Our head coach responded to speculation regarding Hudson-Odoi’s immediate future by underlining the fact the winger will remain at Stamford Bridge for 2021/22 and not head out on loan, with player and manager in agreement that there is plenty of scope to continue his development here with Chelsea.

The German also pointed out that, with another long gruelling campaign to come with five more trophies to challenge for, in addition to the UEFA Super Cup we have already lifted, he will need a strong squad to boost our chances of success.

‘There’s always room for improvement here in training and within this club,’ said Tuchel. ‘It’s hard to argue with the opinion that he needs regular game time to improve his personal level, but at the same time it’s not only about letting players go.

‘Yesterday we were missing only Christian Pulisic and Kurt Zouma, for example, and we already had only 17 regular players from last season. So if we want to compete in all competitions it’s also about numbers. You need a squad of 20 or 21 players to compensate for injuries, to compensate for yellow cards or whatever.

‘I have the feeling that Callum decided to fight for his place here. He had a very good pre-season, but of course we are very aware that he fights for an offensive position more maybe than the wing-back position, and if you do the mathematics you end up with a lot of guys for what is at the moment three offensive positions. So it’s a huge challenge for him, but the door is always open to make your way in and it can happen at any time.’

However, despite the fierce competition for places facing Hudson-Odoi and all the attacking players at Chelsea, Tuchel has seen enough to be confident the 20-year-old has the talent and the attitude to take advantage of his opportunities when they arrive, with the next step in his development being to show he can produce his best performances regularly at the highest level.

‘From the first day in pre-season I saw him on a very different level, coming back, but struggling a bit to produce the same performances on the pitch in the friendly games that he provided for us in training, because he started every friendly and the Super Cup for us. Sometimes these are the little moments where you can turn your career completely upside down if he was able to perform like he performed in training.

‘To be absolutely fair we use him sometimes as a wing-back on the right side, which for me is not the very best position for him, but we did it in the Super Cup because he had a very good pre-season, he had all the training in his legs, so he had the physical condition to play the 90 to 120 minutes on the side.

‘He waits for a regular chance in the half-left position, but he fights against Mason, Kai, Hakim, Christian, a lot of guys with a lot of quality and with a bit more regular game time and more consistency. So it’s very hard for him, but we don’t have to feel sorry for him. Once the door is a little bit open we demand that he puts his foot in it and makes his mark.

‘This can happen at any time and it happened last season when we put him on for 20 minutes in the Man City game and he was a real game-changer. So next time we do this he needs to be ready. This is what we demand from him.’

Tuchel also feels it is testament to Hudson-Odoi’s attitude that he doesn’t allow any frustrations when things aren’t going his way to affect him or stop him being a positive influence in our tightly-knit squad.

‘I think he is not happy with his situation and he will fight and sometimes maybe he gets frustrated on the bench, but he never brings this frustration to work, not once. He is suffering on the sporting side because there’s a lot of competition in his positions, but he is a super nice guy in the dressing room and an absolutely positive guy with positive energy in every single training session.’