This weekend, Chelsea play their part in the season's traditional curtain-raiser at Wembley. Fresh from their Far East tour, Dan Levene reports on at a fractious summer where work to rebuild is far from finished
This was always going to be a closed-season of major change at Stamford Bridge with changes working their way through all levels of the club.
May's tearful farewell from 'Captain, Leader, Legend' John Terry was merely the most visible of these changes, as boss Antonio Conte has also tried to rebuild a team that has, by some necessity, been the focus of the wrecking ball.
Some of those switches have been painful: losing youngsters Nathan Ake and Nathaniel Chalobah, both the focus of many fans hopes and dreams for a 'homegrown' success, has led to much hand-wringing.
And the departure of Nemanja Matic to rivals Manchester United, to hop on ex-boss Jose Mourinho's parked bus of ex-Chelsea men (add Romelu Lukaku and Juan Mata to the passenger list) has concerned many.
Diego Costa will join this small exodus: be it before the summer window closes, or in January once former employers Atletico Madrid have their transfer ban lifted.
The slowness of acquisitions to fill the void has also set a certain amount of panic loose: though many would do well to remember that last year's title-winning squad was not finalised until the last day of the transfer window, with the addition of key man David Luiz.
And, with the return of European football after a season out, a broader squad will be needed to cope with the additional games.
Elsewhere, the pace of change is no less frenetic.
Chelsea's women's side is, like all its top flight rivals, in the midst of a change from playing a summer game, to a winter one. They will start the new season, now roughly co-terminus with the men's sport, at their new home of Kingsmeadow.
The women's game is growing fast – just look at the coverage England's heroic exit from Euro 2017 this week received – and Chelsea's better equipped, more accessible new home will look to take advantage of that.
That change will be extended to Chelsea's academy set-up in due course: with the intention that the younger male and female prospects also pack-up and move to Norbiton, just as soon as existing tenants AFC Wimbledon can get their own permanent home in order.
'Carefree, wherever you may be' is a chant that may become quite pointed for the Blues, as this season progresses: with more news expected on the much talked-about project to demolish, and rebuild Stamford Bridge as a 60,000 capacity stadium.
Timelines and funding streams remain a matter of conjecture – as does the location of the club's lengthy self-imposed exile while the work is completed.
But a trip to face Tottenham at their own home-from-home – Wembley – before the month is out, will give more than a glimpse of what Chelsea are likely to have to get used to.
The other major change this summer is a marketing one: with the sportswear branding on the shirt changing from Adidas to Nike – something that visitors to The Bridge for next weekend's opening fixture will notice does not just stop with a tick on the player's chest.
The changes will continue: some, such as playing personnel, to the end of the month; others mentioned here to the end of the season, and beyond.
Last season's title win was as welcome for fans as it was unexpected.
Conte is rightly lauded for that achievement. But with all that is going on around him, the challenges of this campaign will be very different; and in many ways far tougher to manage.
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