The Blues have qualified for the Champions League by finishing in the top four in the last four consecutive seasons, and in seven of the last nine campaigns.

While admitting the aim is of course to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for the top-flight title, the boss says he does not want to put too much pressure on his players before the season has even begun.

‘My feeling is always that everybody is first of all in the race for top four, and then second of all in the title race. I have never heard different from this from Jurgen [Klopp] or Pep [Guardiola],’ Tuchel said.

‘It is super ambitious and super challenging, if you are in March or April in the title race, you go for the title. You make sure of top four because this is the priority and the first race to take. We are challenging for that and there’s no shame in it.’

The Bavarian has also considered whether he feels his side are more ready now than they were at the end of the US pre-season tour.

The start of Chelsea’s 2022/23 league campaign will set a new record for the earliest ever start, becoming just the fifth league game played by the Blues in the first 10 days of August.

‘When I said that Arsenal seemed more ready [after our pre-season friendly], I speak with my words – they were more ready. They played in pre-season with more or less the same starting 11. They had one or two signings to complete their group and they had a clear idea of what they want. From there, they had a team to build and of course also an atmosphere and attitude. We suffered against them but there were reasons we were not at this point, which we have to accept.’

Despite Chelsea’s 4-0 loss to Arsenal in Orlando a fortnight ago, Tuchel is still taking the positives from the defeat to our London neighbours.

‘The race is on now. It was kind of a wake-up call but it was tough to admit and to see. Maybe, it got our heads clear and our expectations right and to understand where we are and to start from scratch,’ Tuchel suggests.

‘My feeling, and the team’s feeling, is that we don’t have to be ashamed, we have to be clear we know there is a lot of work ahead. It’s about being really focussed and serious step by step. We should not have too many expectations of how things should be from the very start because Raheem [Sterling] has only played one match for 90 minutes, and Kaildou [Koulibaly] as well.’