Carney Chukwuemeka has claimed that the "vibes" at Chelsea are now "unimaginable" under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
What happened to Chelsea last season?
Last season at Stamford Bridge was about as tumultuous as could be at any football club.
The Blues swapped Thomas Tuchel for Graham Potter, before sacking him and bringing in Frank Lampard all to end the season in 12th – with their worst-ever points total during the Premier League era (though their lowest finish in the division remains 14th in 1993/94).
And, thanks to Todd Boehly's squad-building fiasco, the team was completely bloated. As per a report from The Athletic last season, after spending over £500m, on 16 new signings there were "over 30 players reporting for training every day", leading to plenty of unhappiness.
In the same report, Thiago Silva was quoted as saying: “It’s a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision.
“Change of ownership, new players arriving — we had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn’t fit the size of the squad."
However, since the arrival of Pochettino, it appears the mood in west London has changed for the better – as outlined by Chukwuemeka in a recent interview.
Indeed, when speaking to journalist Olivia Buzaglo, the 19-year-old midfielder explained: "The vibes in the squad are unimaginable. I can’t name one person who doesn’t fit in with everyone. Everyone’s just bouncing off each other on and off the pitch, and I think that helps."
He added: "Building a relationship with each other off the pitch is only going to make us closer and build more chemistry on the pitch, so it’s definitely good what the gaffer has come in and done, and long may it continue."
You can see the good vibes in action in videos from their pre-season tour of the US, as well as the recent training ground footage of new signing Moises Caicedo arriving at the club.
Who have Chelsea sold this summer?
No doubt, one of the key reasons the mood has lifted at Chelsea is because Boehly and co have been able to offload some of their unwanted and unhappy squad members.
As per Transfermarkt, an incredible 12 senior players have been sold or allowed to leave for free this summer, with the likes of Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy, N'Golo Kante, Cesar Azpilicueta and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all seeking pastures new.
Read the latest Chelsea transfer news HERE…
That's not to say there hasn't been plenty of arrivals too, with big money spent on new signings such as Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson and Robert Sanchez.
With that in mind, Pochettino probably deserves a fair bit of credit for keeping the changing room happy – especially after the utter chaos of last season.
The Blues started their Premier League campaign off with a respectable 1-1 home draw against Liverpool and travel away to London rivals West Ham this weekend.
Now with a couple of new midfielders added to their ranks in Caicedo and Lavia, Pochettino's squad is another few steps closer to being completed, so it will be interesting to see how he sets up his team for this clash.
After starting against Liverpool, Chukwuemeka will no doubt hope to play again – if not, perhaps he won't be quite so effusive about the good "vibes" at the club when next spoken to by the press.