BlueCo have already handed Chelsea’s Premier League rivals an advantage over them

Some players really shone on their pre-season tour, including Joao Pedro and new signing Marco Palestra. Others, such as Tosin Adarabioyo, had a much tougher time.

Chelsea are returning home now after a lot of travelling, perhaps even too much.

Chelsea’s pre-season tour is over! What are your early thoughts on Xabi Alonso as manager? 💭

Chelsea have done more travelling than all their Premier League rivals in pre-season

Like all owners, BlueCo want to grow the profile of their club, hence Chelsea’s tour of Australia and Asia.

However, according to BBC Sport, the Blues have done more travelling than all their Premier League rivals.

In total, Chelsea players have spent 56 hours travelling 24,561 miles by plane, so it would not be a shock if they were a bit tired heading into their Premier League opener against Fulham.

Alonso also has players who have had a very long summer after competing at the World Cup. Reece James, Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix are not even with the squad yet after helping England and France to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament.

It will be a concern for Chelsea fans, especially after what happened last summer.

The Blues had an extremely long season after their participation at the Club World Cup. They lost Levi Colwill before the 2025/26 campaign even kicked off, while Cole Palmer could not shake off a niggling groin injury.

Hopefully all of this travelling does not have too much of an impact. But at this level, it often comes down to fine margins, so Chelsea’s rivals may very well have a bit of an advantage over them.

Colwill has missed Chelsea’s last few friendlies, but the good news is he is not thought to have a serious injury this time.