To say that Chelsea's new manager will have to hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge is possibly the biggest understatement one could make in this pivotal summer for the club. Antonio Conte is under contract with the Italian FA until July 10 – the date of the Euro 2016 final at Saint-Denis - and from then onwards, the Blues' new boss is unlikely to feel his feet touch the ground for some time.

Assuming he will be permitted a few days respite to relocate himself from Rome to London, it is expected he will report for work in his new role on Friday July 15. His first action will be to fly out to Austria with the squad he has inherited – for a training camp that is expected to be low key in media terms, but will help him get to know some of his players.

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Some, though not all, as those players that make the latter stages of Euro 2016 are, unlike their new boss, expected to be given a week or two's extra leave to ensure they get at least some break from the routine. With the provisional squad lists released, that could mean as many as six key players not being present: Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard (Belgium), Gary Cahill (England) and Cesar Azpilicueta, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas (Spain).

Conte will, at least, have his transatlantic stars back, with the Copa America Centenario final scheduled for the early hours of June 27. With Asmir Begovic, John Terry, Oscar, Kenedy, Willian, John Obi Mikel, Bertrand Traore and Diego Costa all expected to be on the plane, he will at least be able to get to know some key faces. One or two more may able to join the party ahead of the second match of that tour, against WAC RZ Pellets four days later.

Still, he could go into his first friendly fixture against Rapid Vienna with a slightly odd looking Chelsea.

John Terry does not have international duties this summer Image credit: AFP

By the time the squad arrives in Pasadena, California for the first date of the USA promotional tour, Conte will hope to have almost a full squad – perhaps barring those who made it to the Euro 2016 semi-finals. Those three games in the so-called International Champions Cup will be vital for Conte in establishing both the personnel and strategy for assaulting the new season. When the squad returns to the UK on August 5, Day 21 of his reign, Conte will be hoping to have the makings of his plan for the first day of Premier League action.

If previous summers are anything to go by, Chelsea will try to do their transfer dealings early, and there is a good chance new names could even join the squad mid-tour Stateside. Once the group have settled back in London, there is the expectation there will be a yet-to-be announced domestic warm-up match, likely to be against Premier League opposition, either home or away.

Conte will have to run a pretty intense schedule to get his Chelsea ready for their first competitive fixture on August 13 – Day 29. And that is when we will start to learn just how much he has done to repair Chelsea's fractured first team set-up.

Come summer bank holiday, on August 29 – Day 45 – things should be finely balanced. Conte will have taken his side through their first three or four Premier League matches, plus the League Cup second-round tie they have to face for the first time in years, by dint of their poor league finish.

New Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte Image credit: Reuters

He will then lose his charges, to the first international break of the season, while having 48 hours to consider what final dealings are needed before the transfer window closes on Day 47. And, from then on, he will be pretty much on his own.

There is another international break the following month, but by the time Day 100 falls, on October 23, Conte will have managed Chelsea through 10 Premier League matches. That is likely to include coming up against at least one or two out of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and – deep breath – Jose Mourinho.

By this stage, the point at which it was clear the wheels were coming off Mourinho's wagon last season, there will be a well-formed indication of how things are playing out. The target will clearly be to muscle back into the top four, at the very least, and that will mean Chelsea needing around 20 points out of the first 30 available by this point.

Conte not only has the biggest recovery job to implement in Chelsea's recent history this summer: he also has one of the tightest schedules any recent Blues boss has ever had in which to implement it.

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