The Chelsea head coach has been busy preparing his players for a tough test against Antonio Conte’s side, who came from behind to beat Southampton 4-1 on the opening weekend. The Blues, meanwhile, ground out a 1-0 win at Everton with N’Golo Kante and Jorginho starting in the heart of midfield, the latter scoring the game’s only goal from the penalty spot.

With Mateo Kovacic ruled out this weekend with a troublesome knee injury, there could be the opportunity for more midfield minutes for Conor Gallagher, who made his senior debut for the club as a substitute at Goodison Park and is hopeful of breaking into the starting team this term following a successful season on loan at Crystal Palace.

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Tuchel believes the future is bright for the Chelsea Academy graduate, though he concedes the battle for minutes at a top club will inevitably have its ups and downs.

‘Conor fights in central midfield,’ said Tuchel. ‘To be very honest, it’s a tough fight for him because at the moment we only have two places in central midfield, which is a bit unfair given the amount of players we have there.

‘It’s not ideal but we have to do what’s best for the squad and not only best for every individual player. These thoughts about the formation and how to use everyone are not 100 per cent finished yet, but at the moment he’s absolutely fine.’

Gallagher featured throughout pre-season, particularly with Kante absent from our USA tour, and was clearly chuffed at finally running out for his boyhood Blues last weekend, with the travelling contingent even singing his name.

The 22-year-old made 43 appearances in all competitions last term and Tuchel believes he has the potential to become just as big a player in blue as he was at Palace if he keeps on showing the same hunger, desire and belief.

‘I’m a huge fan of Conor,’ admitted the boss. ‘He’s first of all a fantastic guy, which we knew, and in the first weeks of training he showed how much of a step he made by having so much playing time and how much of a personality on the pitch he became.

‘It’s a very normal situation in development that after some really fantastic training sessions in the beginning there is now a little dip in form and freshness from which he suffers.

‘Then on top he has huge competition with N’Golo, Jorgi and Kova who are used to playing with each other but this is also life in a big club like Chelsea. Everything is in its right place and we are happy with him. He keeps on fighting because this is what he does. I think he has everything to become a very important player over the next years at Chelsea.’

There continues to be plenty of speculation about potential incomings and outgoings at Stamford Bridge, with Marc Cucurella the most recent through the door in a move from Brighton & Hove Albion last week.

Tuchel admitted the club were still pursuing other options to bolster the squad and that one new arrival could provide invaluable guidance to another of his younger prodigies.

‘In general nobody is for sale, and everybody is for sale,’ added Tuchel. ‘It depends in the end on what the player wants, how bad the player wants it, what we think, and who is ready to pay a certain amount of money, and then maybe everybody is for sale.

‘Callum competes, he had a long-term injury and long-term problems to overcome so that’s from where he suffered. I think he has still a long way to go to live up to his potential because the potential is huge.

‘Having Raheem [Sterling] in can maybe give him the extra boost to step and see what is needed on these kind of positions to reach the level that he wants to reach and that he can reach. At the moment he’s our player and he needs to fight and fight.’