Chelsea are embarking on what will be one of the more fascinating seasons we’re likely to see any club. Having been the trailblazers in the UK for the ‘spend until you win’ mentality, their transfer ban now sees them needing to fall back on incumbents rather than arrivals. Similarly, it feels like the appointment of Frank Lampard is a departure from the cold-calculating hiring and firing of the Ambramovic era and is instead something of an emotional one instead. The innate affection that Chelsea fans will hold to Lampard, combined with the unique circumstances of the transfer ban will mean it will be interesting to see how things play out if the season starts badly, or goes off the rails.

The loss of Hazard cannot be underestimated for this Chelsea team – at times he single handedly won games for them last season and when he didn’t it felt like the rest of the team were hoping he would.

Pulisic has shown flashes that he could be a world beater, but may not yet be ready to bear the responsibility of replacing Hazard. That said – Chelsea do still have genuine top-quality players in Willian, Pedro and Kante, and Abraham and Mount could prove themselves to belong in the top tier of given a good run of games.

Many people are predicting that the wheels are going to fall off spectacularly for Chelsea this season, I don’t necessarily think that will be the case, but whatever does come to pass is sure to be entertaining from the pitch to the sideline to the boardroom.

Ceiling – 2nd

Floor – 10th