Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted at the possibility of him playing a very youthful side against Liverpool in their Premier League opener.

The Blues will welcome Jurgen Klopp’s side to Stamford Bridge in their first game of the season on August 13 as they look to secure the maximum points and start on a bright note following a poor 2022/23 campaign.

The Londoners are in a complete rebuild state following the exit of several clubs including Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, and Edouard Mendy.

Pochettino have brought in six signings including the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Robert Sanchez, Axel Disasi, Lesley Ugochukwu, and Angelo Gabriel.

“We are building something special,” the former PSG manager told the Guardian. “It’s a process and we need time. But in football you cannot ask for time and you need to deliver now. We are Chelsea and, even if we have young players involved against Liverpool, the mentality is to win.

“I’m excited to start something medium- and long-term, but in football you never know. We all need to be together to see if we can develop something special here. At the moment we are only at the beginning of the pre-season. At the end of this transfer window we need to have …”

“I’m so happy because we are working hard. I know how difficult it is to build a squad to compete with [Manchester] City, Liverpool and company. I think we are in a good way.

“My message to the players, the fans and everyone is that we are Chelsea and we need to win. Today, yesterday, not tomorrow. At the same time we need to work hard and be clever in how we are going to prepare next month, the next six months and the year. We need to have a plan and we need to have a guide that says: ‘We need to arrive there.’ If we arrive before, perfect. But if not we know that we are going to arrive at the destination.”

Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last season and missed out on European football.

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