That sense of anticipation spreads through supporters, management and players alike. There is nothing like it. The possibilities seem endless. And that is why Mason Mount is aiming high.

Our Player of the Year for the past two seasons may have already achieved so much in the game, but it never stops him wanting more, collectively and individually. This is what Mount is targeting in 2022/23.

‘My goal is to win something domestically with this club,’ he said ahead of our opener at Everton.

‘The Premier League is huge so to be able to win that would be so special. I don’t think we are favourites to win it, but you never know what can happen. That’s the kind of pressure we put on ourselves: to be able to say we might be underdogs, but we can still perform and still be pushing right up there.

‘I’m still striving to get better and to improve every single game and every single season,’ he added of his personal ambitions.

‘I have always set goals at the beginning of a season, and I still do that now. One is trying to get double figure goals and assists. I managed to do that last season, but out of the three seasons I have only done it once.

‘So, looking back, am I 100 per cent happy? No. I want to do that every single season, and now I have achieved it I want to do more. A focus of mine is to keep upping my numbers, to keep being someone that can play week in week out, and to keep being someone that is reliable for the team and for the manager.’

Thomas Tuchel will be expecting our first two signings of the summer, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, to offer the same level of consistency and performance that Mount has given him in the past 18 months. From what he’s seen so far, the 23-year-old has no doubt the new duo will significantly strengthen our side in the years ahead.

‘Kalidou has been brilliant. He is a top, top guy. I didn’t know him too well before coming to Chelsea but I had seen him play a lot. He’s definitely going to thrive at Chelsea, and working with us. He’s going to bring a lot to our team so it’s a very good signing.

‘Raz has settled straight in,’ continued Mount, discussing his England team-mate.

‘He’s brilliant. It’s so exciting to have him within the team and what he has achieved so far in his career.

‘He’s world-class so hopefully that continues, and we’ll be working together for the next years and trying to win a lot more things.’

The quest for silverware in 2022/23 starts at Goodison Park. It has been far from a happy hunting ground for Mount or the Blues recently, having lost on our past four visits to the blue side of Stanley Park.

‘It’s such a tough place to go, and you could see that last season with everything that happened around the game, the night before, the fireworks,’ Mount pointed out.

‘They did everything they could to put us off and stay in the Premier League. They managed to do that. Congrats to them. Now it’s a new season. We remember everything that happened so hopefully we’ll be firing on all cylinders so we can win the first game.

‘Every new beginning of a season you all start at zero. As a team and as a group we can’t wait. Everyone has done their own preparation so there is the unknown of where every team is going to be at, but we’re looking forward to it so much, and at the end of the season we want to be at the top.’