However at Chelsea in the 1980s, we thought of Wegerle more as a South African, the country of his birth and upbringing. Though he had played in the United States before Stamford Bridge, it was only after leaving Chelsea he became an American citizen and played for the US national team, including at their own World Cup in 1994.

So it is Matt Miazga, our new signing from New York Red Bulls, who is the first ‘born in the USA’ American player in the Chelsea squad. The 20-year-old, who to be accurate is a native New Jersey boy rather than a native New Yorker, is sure to have plenty of people from his side of the Atlantic watching his progress in England with interest.

‘I have received a lot of messages from people and family and friends back home, so they are supporting me and now it is up to me to perform and contribute in any way I can,’ Miazga confirms to the official Chelsea website. It’s our first interview with the young central defender so we take him back to the start of his football story.

‘My background is Polish, Miazga is a Polish name, and football is the biggest sport in Poland,’ he begins.

‘My dad loves it and when I was a young boy he put me in some recreation football when I was roughly around six years old. Slowly and surely I moved up every year and once I was 13 I joined the Red Bull Academy, so it become more and more serious and more and more professional and from there I signed a professional contract.

‘I was always pretty athletic,’ he recalls. ‘As a footballer you are athletic and can do a lot of things. I was okay at other sports but I wasn’t the best. If all my friends wanted to play basketball in the park, I would join in because nobody really played football.’

The conversation stops briefly as he acknowledges the word ‘football’ rather than ‘soccer’ in this context could cause confusion back home. He is fully aware of their different usage in the two countries.

‘Maybe I will say NFL when I mean American football,’ he smiles.