Town forward Conor Chaplin says he and his teammates have been impressed by the new arrivals of David Button, Cedric Kipre and Azor Matusiwa.
The Blues continued their preparations for the upcoming Championship season with a week-long camp in northern Austria, culminating in Saturday’s 4-1 friendly victory over Blau-Weiß Linz at the Hofmann Personal Stadion.
Kipre and Matusiwa both joined the club from the French league on the eve of jetting out to Austria, with central defender Kipre on loan from Reims having previously spent much of his career in England.
Dutch midfielder Matusiwa signed from Stade Rennais for around £8 million, the largest transfer fee ever spent by the Blues while outside of the Premier League.
While a less attractive acquisition on paper, Chaplin has been particularly pleased with the impact of veteran shot-stopper Button, who has been brought in on a short-term deal with the aim of helping mentor younger players.
"Brilliant,” he said, speaking exclusively to TWTD following yesterday’s game. "Butts probably speaks for himself, had a great career, come in as a support goalie and has been a massive addition in terms of the way he goes about training.
"The way that he shows his enthusiasm for training at the age he is is inspiring to me and hopefully the other people as well, he’s been a great addition.”
Reflecting on the outfield arrivals, who played 45 minutes each in Austria, Chaplin said: "The other two have also had great careers and both been in France more recently. Cedric’s been in England and we’ve all played against him and felt the power that he’s got and the ability he’s got on the ball.
"It’s been good to see up close and getting to know what Azor is like as a player first hand in training. We’ve been really impressed with all of them.”
Town had a pre-season camp in Austria for the third successive summer following on from the previous trips to Innsbruck and Villach.
This time, the Blues were based in the mountain spa town of Windischgarsten, which Chaplin rates as one of the best facilities he has experienced.
He said: "It was brilliant. Probably the best trip on the whole we’ve had in Austria with everything, it was perfect.
"The sun wasn’t too hot for training, I know it turned up today which wasn’t ideal for the game. The weather was not as sunny as it has been previously, but the hotel and the pitches were brilliant.
"The hospitality was great and we’ve had a really good week together on the training pitch and in the hotel socially as well.
"I make a conscious effort to make sure I spend a lot of time out of my room and getting to know my teammates because it’s an important part of being together on these trips.
"New lads as well, integrating them and trying to help them integrate, then getting a deeper friendship and connection with players that I’ve known for years.
"Trips like this can give you memories in terms of time spent together as well for each other, it’s really important.”
While many footballers balk at the idea of the intensity that pre-season demands, Chaplin insists it is an aspect of being a professional athlete he relishes.
"I love training and working hard,” the 28-year-old said. "I love being out there with the boys and I love football. I’m not one of those that would moan about pre-season running or anything like that.”
Above all, though, Chaplin values family time having recently become a father for the second time. The former Portsmouth man says the off-season was utilised well.
He said: "A lot of time spent with my family - my two sons and my fiancée. It was the perfect break, nice to have some quality time back home with them and enjoy being a dad.”
Part one of the interview in which Chaplin talks about skipper Sam Morsy’s impending departure can be found here.