Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has delivered his verdict on working alongside players returning from loan ahead of the new campaign.
With several first-team stars on holiday following their involvement in the Euorpean Championships and Copa America, the German boss has had to work with many players who spent the previous campaign on loan.
Tuchel was recently asked about his experience of working with the returning players, most of whom are looking to impress the head coach while others could be in line for another loan spell away from the west London outfit.
He said: "I have never had that (so many loan players at his disposal) before. That was new, I was not scared about it, but I was curious to see how the mentality is because don't forget, some of them leave their families behind, some of them want to stay in their loan clubs, some of them have not that possibility," as quoted by Chelsea's official website.
"Some of them have done two or three pre-seasons here already. Some of them want to look absolutely for the chance to stay, some of them want to maybe leave. They're humans, they're not robots and that's why we have to accept it's not the easiest situation also for them.
"But, what I’ve experienced every day is the complete opposite – it’s a very positive group, hardworking, full of desire to learn, hungry in every training session and ready to go.
"It's such a good mix with the five or six guys who were with us here in the last half-a-year. I'm absolutely happy, because it's so much easier than I thought, it's so easy and so nice to be the coach of these guys. There are possibilities for all of us, and this group deserves our full attention, and they get it.
"I don't judge on where they (players) come from or what their history is, or what they earn or what their status is. I'm in charge of this group so they get my 100 per cent. I give my everything, they give it back, they make me smile, I give even more, that makes them smile, they give even more.
"They try every year to create a certain atmosphere where everybody is happy to come, everybody feels valued, everybody feels confident but everybody knows at the same time what is expected from them, and then they have to live up to their talent.
"These guys are full of talent, and now it's on us to push them to their highest level possible. Then, we will decide is this in the moment good enough for us, does this help us, is it better for the player to go on loan or get sold. This comes as the last step in this give and take."
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