The feeling at Kingsmeadow (and at Stamford Bridge, where a shoal of this season’s fixtures will be played) is that if anyone can finally lift the magic trophy with the twisted handles, it’s the French coach who remains the only person to win it as both player and manager. “We have all the quality in this squad to win it,” said Sonia, who is on a four-year contract.

After a pre-season tour of the States, the action starts this weekend at Kingsmeadow with the visit of Dutch team Feyenoord for a friendly on Saturday at noon. Then the WSL season starts on Friday 20 September with an opener under the floodlights at 7pm.

At 44 Sonia’s three years younger than her predecessor. She’s been busy meeting staff and players, assembling a new backroom team (Hayes having taken several key colleagues with her to manage the USA national side) and moving her family from Lyon to Battersea, where her four children under 10 start school this week.

The pre-season warm-up tour of the States, following in the studmarks of the men, saw the Blues return unbeaten with victories over Gotham FC and Arsenal.

“I’m so happy and excited,” said Sonia of her new London challenge. “I can’t wait to get started. I’m lucky to have this opportunity to show who I am as a manager.”

Modest, but fiercely focused, Sonia was asked, at a press conference in the media room at the Bridge, to sum up her character. “I’m quiet,” she said. “I like to enjoy life, but as a manager I’m very competitive. I can be a bad loser! I hate to lose, and in a club like Chelsea the results are the most important.”

There have been quite a few comings and goings during the summer – unsurprisingly with a strong French accent on the arrivals. Newcomers include French strikers Sandy Baltimore, 24, and Louna Ribadeira, 20 (who has gone straight back on loan to Paris FC), and French midfielder Oriane Jean-Francois. Also signed, experienced English full-back Lucy Bronze and Spanish midfielder Julia Bartel, 20.

Bidding farewell, Fran Kirby, who has joined Brighton, Maren Mjelde, Mellie Leupolz (now at Real Madrid), Russian Alsu Abdullina (now back in Moscow), defender Jess Carter (now in the States, reunited with soulmate and former Blues goalie Ann-Katrin Berger), Katerina Svitkova, Jelena Cankovic and Emily Orman.

While Sonia isn’t ruling out making any further signings, she insisted: “I’m quite happy with my squad”. She’s also a big fan of Stamford Bridge as a stadium, having played at the ground in the Champions League.

Being of a similar vintage to Emma Hayes, Sonia said that she has a hotline to her predecessor, chatting to her three or four times during the summer about life at Chelsea, and congratulating her on winning a gold medal for the States at the Paris Olympics. “It’s been important to have those conversations with her; she gave her life to this club and she left it in such a great position.”

Sonia’s playing career (which included 83 appearances in midfield for Montpellier, scoring 36 goals) was inextricably linked to Lyon, where she managed the youth team, then the first team, for a total of 11 years, winning seven trophies, among them the coveted Champions League.

Quietly confirmed in the Chelsea Women’s managerial job within a fortnight of Hayes announcing in November 2023 that she’d be leaving at the end of the season, Sonia had to play a strange game of distraction and denial for six months, fielding questions from her kids, the media and her Lyon players as the season built to the (ultimately unsuccessful) Women’s Champions League final against Barcelona.

There was relief in both Lyon and SW6 that it hadn’t left her in the tricky position of managing one finalist ahead of joining the other!