Chelsea are now just days away from commencing the defence of their Premier League title and the Blues will be desperate to perform better than they did the last time they begun a season as champions, in a campaign where the West London giants eventually finished tenth.

Antonio Conte has been very clear with his comments and is obviously concerned about how stable his position as manager will become during the course of the season, as Jose Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri have both lost their jobs mere months after leading their sides to league glory.

Chelsea face the additional challenge this season of balancing their Premier League campaign with their venture in the Champions League, where the depth within the squad will be crucial. The Blues certainly benefitted from a lack of European involvement last season and were also fortunate to avoid major injury concerns.

Conte’s side are extremely unlikely to enjoy similar luck this season and the fact that Chelsea’s squad is currently looking very slim just days before their opening game against Burnley is a major concern, with the Italian boss being very public in his demands to land further signings.

New Chelsea skipper Gary Cahill, who took the armband following John Terry’s exit, has discussed the challenges the Blues face heading into the new season and has stated it’s crucial that the defending champions avoid major injury concerns.

Quoted by The Guardian, the England international said:

“In terms of quality we’ve certainly got that and you just have to hope we don’t have too many injuries. The new players that have just come are going to be vitally important for us and the quicker they settle the better but there’s no doubt we have added quality to the team.”

“We just have to keep everybody fit and keep everybody sharp. Rest is going to be important because we’re going to have a lot of games, and we players are in control of the way we prepare ourselves. The other stuff outside of that is none of our business.”

Chelsea have moved to bring in Willy Caballero, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alvaro Morata and Antonio Rudiger into their side this summer but a wealth of departures means the Blues still lack depth, which means the defending champions will remain active in the transfer market right up until the end of the month.