Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic has sent his side’s Premier League rivals Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United a title warning ahead of the new campaign.
The 2022/23 season begins in just over two weeks, with City heading into the campaign as the reigning Champions for the second consecutive year.
Pep Guardiola’s side have won four of the last five titles, with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds winning the other one back in 2020.
Chelsea were the last team outside of those two sides to lift the trophy, claiming their fifth title in the 2016/17 campaign under Antonio Conte.
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Since then their highest finish has been third, with the club certainly keen to finish top of the pile come the end of the new season.
With the rest of the ‘top six’ all improving their squads over the summer, the challenge may be even more difficult for Thomas Tuchel’s side.
However, Pulisic has sent Chelsea’s rivals a title warning ahead of the forthcoming campaign, with the Blues hoping to compete on various fronts once again.
He spoke after their pre-season friendly loss against Charlotte FC, and told FC Series: “We’re going to push to be right at the top of the table, that’s our goal.
“We’re going to take it one game at a time."
Pulisic scored in the first half for Chelsea against Charlotte, netting from close range after Michy Batshuayi’s deflected effort failed to hit the target.
However his side’s opponents scored a late equaliser to send the match to penalties, and they eventually lost 5-3 in the shootout.
They now have one fixture left of their tour across the United States as they face London rivals Arsenal on Sunday morning (UK).
The American international also commented on Chelsea’s overall performance against the MLS side, hinting that they are not yet the final package as they edge towards the new season.
He said: “We still have a lot of work to do. We are going to continue to push, obviously today we didn’t come out with the win like we’d liked.
"But we are still getting used to each other, a couple games in. I think we are going to be feeling strong once the season starts."
Raheem Sterling made his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt against Charlotte, coming on in the second half of the match and lining up in the front three with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount.
The 27-year-old hit the post late on in the game and scored his penalty in the shootout, although the latter proved to not be enough for them to secure victory.
After their clash against Arsenal on Sunday, the Blues will travel back to the UK before facing Udinese in Italy in another friendly at the end of the month.
Topics: Christian Pulisic, Chelsea, Premier League
Robert Calcutt