There is undoubtedly plenty of excitement about the prospect of seeing new Chelsea signings during pre-season. Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly are certainly two major signatories to Thomas Tuchel’s squad. The duo may elevate Chelsea’s squad as Tuchel looks to rebuild following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
However, they aren’t the only players looking to impress. Chelsea’s development squad are in the midst of their pre-season preparations and flew to the USA following a friendly win over Boreham Wood, in which N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek featured.
That outing saw the Blues come away as 4-2 victors, with Ben Elliott and Charlie Webster among the stars of an entertaining game. Elliott showed some impressive awareness and one-touch passing to ensure he always operated in space, while Webster showed impressive ability and passing when assisting Mason Burstow’s goal.
The duo wasted little time in impressing again when Chelsea took on Real Monarchs in the MLS NEXT Pro Invitational tournament. Tino Anjorin, Billy Gilmour and Harvey Vale joined the development group for the game, which also saw the addition of new signing Omari Hutchinson – making his first appearance in Blues.
The youngsters fell to defeat on penalties but not before Webster produced another impressive display and some good driving work up the pitch to supply Elliott with the ball on the left-hand side of the pitch. The 19-year-old needed little invitation to continue the ball’s route forward.
Elliott showed exquisite touch and control to beat a defender and the goalkeeper before simply nudging the ball past a whole host of opposition players to ensure it ended up in the net. Cool as you like.
Elliott scores a wonderful solo goal for @ChelseaFC U-21's to make it 2-1 pic.twitter.com/m8rQwxXiwE
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 20, 2022
Chelsea U21s take on Wolves on Thursday before facing Toronto FC second team on Saturday. New under-23 boss Mark Robinson provided his first interview since taking over for the Blues.
He said: “The players’ attitude in training has been excellent, and they have attacked any new ideas we have put to them with enthusiasm and an open mind. Our training group has been big, but I feel physically we are in a good place.
“Tonight’s game was a real mixed performance. They looked like a side well into their season, and we looked like a side still in pre-season, and the altitude definitely had an effect on us pressing with the same energy we have in our previous two games.
“Nonetheless, we are looking forward to putting in a more complete performance against Wolves on Thursday night.”
