There were 22 matches pencilled into Chelsea’s calendar after Enzo Fernandez’s arrival on deadline day in January, with the Argentinian starting all of them in the middle of our midfield.

Sixteen of those 22 matches saw him complete the full 90 minutes, all of which coming during a period where he was not only trying to settle into his new working environment at Cobham, but also the city of London with his family.

The Argentinian is yet to report for pre-season ahead of the 2023/24 season. New head coach Pochettino is eagerly awaiting his return so he can meet and talk to his compatriot, but admits he needed this time more than anyone to rest and reset.

‘It's been important now to rest a little bit because he was a year and a half playing, playing, playing because of the circumstances. He arrived from Argentina to Portugal, from Portugal to the World Cup, and from the World Cup to England. He never stopped,’ our head coach said.

‘He’s young and energetic but the young also need to rest, clean the mind. Also, he arrived at Chelsea not in the best circumstances. It’s difficult. 

‘He is still young and still needs to learn about the Premier League, it’s a really, really tough competition. He changed everything – the culture, the language – and it’s not always easy to adapt,’ the 51-year-old added.

‘But I think now he knows what it is to be a Chelsea player, knows London, and is communicating better. We are going to help in all these aspects for him to grow and provide the team with his best.’

Mykhailo Mudryk, who signed for Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in January, will also report for training in the coming days after representing Ukraine at the European Under-21 Championship. 

‘It is to understand the circumstances how he also arrived,’ continued Pochettino. ‘I think it’s not the same mindset and everything is different in the life of Mudryk than Enzo. That is why for us it is really important to spend time to talk.

‘We were talking with Mudryk, I’m going to meet him before he comes to start pre-season, because he was in the Under-21 Euros and will join us when we fly to America. I really like to see and to know him to try to decide with the staff the best strategy to help him to be at the level that I think Chelsea when they signed him expected him to be.’

Mauricio also says conversations will follow with Levi Colwill, who has spent the last two campaigns on season-long loans at Huddersfield Town and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively.

‘He is a Chelsea player and in the last few months [on loan] at Brighton he was playing really well. He is one of our players and I need to talk with him when he arrives next week,’ Pochettino said.

‘I need to get a feel for him. I need to hear what he has in his mind, what he expects. And then, of course, for him to listen to what I expect from him.’