The Blues fans were given their first opportunity to see Lukaku back in action for Chelsea since his return to the club last week, as the Belgian striker was presented to the supporters on the pitch before taking part in a training session with his new team-mates.

It was a proud moment for Lukaku, as he took the microphone to voice his appreciation for the familiar warm reception he got from the Stamford Bridge crowd.

‘Even after 10 years it doesn’t feel new, everything still feels the same here,’ he said. ‘I’m very excited to play here in front of the fans, it’s nice to be back.

‘It’s good to see you! Thank you for the welcome you gave me today, it is a lot of fun getting to say hello again and I can’t wait to see you all back here for a match when we play Aston Villa.’

The cheer from the fans when Lukaku walked out on to the pitch was only matched by that for the appearance of the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup trophies we have won this year, as skipper Azpilicueta and vice-captain Jorginho held the silverware aloft in front of the packed East Stand before the squad lined up for a team photograph in front of the supporters.

‘We missed you,’ Azpilicueta told the supporters. ‘Football without fans was difficult, I have to be honest. We didn’t get used to playing in empty stadiums, but we are very pleased and happy to have everybody back.

‘We feel that we are stronger together. We have created something special with the fans, between the players and the crowd at Stamford Bridge. This group is very hungry for more success, we want to look forward to new challenges and we have to be ready for them.’

On the pitch, the players were put through their paces by Tuchel, with some light fitness work and possession drills followed by a 10-a-side game, in which Kai Havertz switched sides to give the team in possession an extra man.

The fans certainly seemed to be enjoying the action, as they cheered every touch by Lukaku, although a good save by Kepa Arrizabalaga denied them the goal from our new striker they were hoping to see.

Those cheers for Lukaku were mixed with cries of ‘shoot’ whenever Trevoh Chalobah was in possession, but probably the biggest round of applause was given to Andreas Christensen, when he cleared a powerful Marcos Alonso effort off the line after Edouard Mendy had blocked Timo Werner’s initial effort.

‘It was an intense training session,’ said Tuchel, as he explained he is working the players hard to take advantage of a free midweek ahead of our visit to Arsenal on Sunday and ensure fitness levels are high for the new season.

‘Nine players will be doing a second training session later at the training ground as for them pre-season continues. The work continues and at the same time we have to play matches, we have to try to win matches, which luckily we were able to do against Villarreal and Crystal Palace.

‘So we are using the time that we have now, because we play on Sunday which gives us a pretty unusual amount of time, with a whole week, for training sessions like today. It also gives us the opportunity to do it in front of our fans, which is always a lot of fun and a great change of routine.’