We are just hours away from Chelsea’s opening Premier League fixture of 2023/24, with several new arrivals in line to make their Blues debuts when we host Liverpool at Stamford Bridge at 4.30pm this afternoon.

One of those is Nicolas Jackson, who arrived in west London from Villarreal following a breakthrough campaign in Spain, which he ended in impressive form by scoring nine goals in his last eight league appearances, and seems to have made a big impression on Mauricio Pochettino over the summer.

In the build-up to our first game of the season, the Blues head coach was asked whether he believes Jackson can bring that goalscoring success from La Liga to the Premier League with Chelsea, and his response was unequivocal.

‘He’s a young player but I think he has the quality to enjoy being here and to score goals,’ said Pochettino. ‘I think we are enjoying in the way we are working. He’s working really hard, the quality is there.

‘I think you could see in the pre-season games that he showed that quality. Of course La Liga is completely different from the Premier League. That’s one of the reasons it was good for us to play the Premier League Summer Series in America in pre-season, because it allowed us to test ourselves against Premier League teams, it was really good for us.

‘He's so strong, he isn’t scared of anything, he’s so brave. And then you can see the quality in his feet, and quality also in physicality. He’s fast, he’s strong.’

‘I have no doubt that he’s going to score goals and his adaptation is going to be good because it’s not only his quality, it’s his character. He has great character, his personality is strong and for sure he is going to be good here.’

Pochettino also had praise for another of his Chelsea players, who made his own debut back in February. As a proud Argentinian he no doubt enjoyed the performances of Enzo Fernandez and new Liverpool signing Alexis Mac Allister during their country’s World Cup win at the end of last year, and was asked about the prospect of those two lining up as midfield opponents at Stamford Bridge today.

‘It’s a battle between Chelsea and Liverpool, we cannot translate it to them. I think they shared that success together, they are two world champions, two fantastic players,’ Pochettino added, before explaining what has stood out while working with the Blues midfielder so far.

‘We are also happy with Enzo because Enzo is showing he has good commitment with the club, good commitment with the team. He’s training really well. I think only good things are going to happen with him because he’s really committed with everything with this club.’

There's not long left to wait before we get to see for ourselves if Enzo comes out on top in the midfield battle with his international team-mate, or if Jackson gets the nod from Pochettino to make his competitive Chelsea debut against Liverpool, but one thing is certain - the excitement is building for the first look at what the future holds for the Blues under our new head coach.