Chelsea will again salute the Stars and Stripes this summer, with the announcement of a three-game promotional tour of the USA in July and August.

With last summer's pre-season arrangements criticised by many seeking reasons behind this disastrous campaign, there have already been questions asked about whether the Blues are sleepwalking into the same mistakes – simply under a different manager.

First and foremost, these tours are in no way unique to Chelsea.

All clubs do them to varying degrees and, among Europe's bigger clubs, promotional tours of new markets are seen less as an option, more as a requirement.

The USA and Far East are both massive markets: and there is a real thirst among European clubs to tap those revenue streams for huge profit.

In pictures: Antonio Conte's rumoured shopping list

Some will characterise that as greed; but there is a legitimate argument that every shirt sold in China or California helps make football more affordable for those who watch it back home.

Or, at the very least, it fills the coffers to fund even more over-paid playing talent.

It doesn't stop with a replica kit either, as the better funded and more engaged fans that discover the club through these tours often make pilgrimages to the Premier League: spending thousands on merchandise and match tickets as they go.

While there is a perceived reluctance among many long-standing fans to accept the 'tourists', plenty will have had experience of new fans keen to understand and get involved in the prevailing cultures of English football.

Hero: Fans pose in front of Diego Costa before the West Ham match

Rather than a contrast between new fans and old; it is more accurate to talk about those who get what football is all about, and those others who see it as just another attraction to divert attention and funds – with plenty of each in both the domestic and international fan groups.

Certainly, in the case of Chelsea, promotional tours of the planet have brought plenty of genuinely enthused international fans to the club – many of whom I've had the pleasure to chat with and even meet over the years.

But while there can be few properly considered complaints about the model itself, the nuts and bolts of how it works at Chelsea can leave a little to be desired.

There seems to have been a requirement in recent years to just cram these games into the schedule in numbers – fitting-in the maximum amount of international glad-handing that the calendar will permit.

When Andre Villas-Boas entered the club back in 2011, he put his foot down: demanding at least one of the pre-season games be cancelled.

Mourinho watched Fulham play against Middlesbrough on Saturday
International Brand: Jose Mourinho

More recently, with managers such as Jose Mourinho international brands in their own right, competitive arguments against huge long-haul trips have slipped down the risk register, with fortunes on offer to more than just the club, in return for a bit of long-haul legroom.

It certainly seems mistakes were made last summer when, in the absence of a tournament involving national squads, Chelsea extended their own championship-winning campaign with a tour of Australia, then squeezed three USA games into pre-season.

This culminated in a very rusty-looking first team leaving Washington DC without a win in 90 minutes, and landing back in London just a couple of days before the FA Community Shield – where the first signs of what was to come were revealed.

This summer, so far at least, only Stateside has been mentioned.

Though with the Blues in no finals, and their season ending on 15th May, there is what might be seen as a tempting fortnight in the diary before squads need to be assembled at international level for the Centennial Copa America and Euro 2016.

The USA schedule looks pretty tough, with three games in a week: Los Angeles and Minneapolis have been confirmed; Detroit is rumoured for the third.

Minneapolis, USA

That's a lot of miles, and a lot of strength-sapping flights for players: who really need to knuckle-down and learn their new manager's (and team mates) methods and characters.

With the first game on 27th July and the last on 3rd August, that gives two weeks after the Euros finish, and just over a week before the new season starts – not much time to get a side that has fallen into bad habits fully-drilled for a new era of success.

The days of kickabouts against Wycombe or Kingstonian are pretty much gone now.

Exhibition matches against stronger opposition, for bigger (financial) stakes are with us forever – and that's not entirely a bad thing.

But there needs to be an understanding that health, fitness and performance should be serious considerations in the schedule – as well as the bottom line of revenue.