Chelsea kick off their Premier League title defence at home to Burnley on Saturday, and the unbridled joy that drenched Stamford Bridge in May has been clouded by anxiety over the course of a fractious and frustrating summer.
Diego Costa, last season's top scorer, is spending the final weeks of his Chelsea career milling around with friends and family in Brazil. Eden Hazard, the club's most talented player, missed the entirety of preseason with a broken ankle. Most ominous of all, Antonio Conte, the man who masterminded the return of the Premier League trophy to Stamford Bridge, is anticipating the toughest test of his managerial career.