The summer signing has settled in well since moving from Borussia Dortmund over the summer and admits it feels special to be a Premier League player now.

'I’m so happy to be on the pitch,' he says of his return to English football. 'I was getting goosebumps in the warm-up and stuff. I was like a little kid stepping on the pitch.

'It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of doing because I’m from here... and to play for Chelsea is even bigger.'

Gittens has a lot of friends in the squad already, having played alongside some of them in England youth football, and others during his two years in the Manchester City academy. He has never been shy to make the best move for his career, but he insists he will never let go of the joy he has always felt running at defenders with the ball.

'Our job is to take on our man and create something,' he says of wing play, 'whether that’s crossing the ball or combining with a team-mate in the box, or going one-on-one. You’ve got to create chances for the team, by passing, making runs in behind, just mixing it up a little bit.

'I don’t know why, but since I was young I’ve always liked to go one-on-one. It’s been my thing to do. I get a little thrill from it.'

Elsewhere in the programme, you can read the thoughts of Enzo Maresca, Reece James, Sonia Bompastor, and our Academy coaches as they assess their respective starts to the 2025/26 season, plus there’s all the stats and facts you could need about this west London derby with Fulham.

In our historical features, we go back a century to see how Chelsea were one of the innovators who embraced a transformational shift in the offside law in 1925, and you can reminisce about Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou as our new feature, Over Land & Sea, takes Ivory Coast as its focus.

Make sure you pick up your copy from the programme sellers around Stamford Bridge, or order online from our publications partner, Reach Sport.