On a sunny Friday in Surrey, Enzo Maresca mixed physical exercises with tactical and team work, with the focus on the visit of the reigning champions, managed by his former colleague Pep Guardiola.

The same fixture last season was one of the league’s best as we played out a thrilling 4-4 draw, deservedly earning a point courtesy of an injury-time Cole Palmer penalty.

Palmer, who of course signed from City this time last year, played the second half of our most recent friendly, against Inter Milan. The star man of 2023/24 will hope to feature from the off against his former club. He was certainly enjoying himself today!

Maresca answered questions from the media after training and confirmed his squad had a clean bill of health aside from Reece James, who was already suspended for the fixture.

The head coach provided an update on Pedro Neto’s availability, off the back of his first few sessions working with his new teammates.

'Pedro’s physical condition is good, the only thing is that he’s been here for just the last two or three days, so he will need to get used to the way we play.

'He is fit for sure but whether he starts for us or is on the bench, we will make that decision. But he is physically fit to be involved and he’s available.'

In his press conference, one journalist wanted to know if Maresca's Chelsea team could play the same way irrespective of whether Nicolas Jackson or Christopher Nkunku was leading the attack.

‘If you have Nicolas playing as a nine, or Christo playing as a nine, that means you are looking for something different, for sure,’ Maresca replied.

‘You cannot ask the same of two completely different players.’

If it is Jackson that gets the nod up top on Sunday, it will be his first start of the summer having recovered from an injury sustained on international duty.

For Nkunku, meanwhile, Maresca has said he can play on either wing, as a nine, or in the pocket between our midfield and attack. The Frenchman told us ahead of his second campaign that really it feels like start of his time at Chelsea, because of the injury issues that have afflicted him.

‘To be honest, I don’t have the feeling I had a first season here,’ admitted Nkunku. ‘It was very difficult. I played just a little bit. Some minutes here, some minutes there. I was very frustrated all the season.

‘The most important thing now is to be ready to work and to be happy in myself. I wasn’t happy for one year, so the most important thing is to be happy. You cannot share moments with fans if you are not happy.’

Nkunku and his teammates will be hoping to start banking some wonderful memories with the supporters on Sunday.