5 Chelsea players who need to impress in pre-season
With international tournaments now behind us, the focus shifts back to club football as various players return to their respective clubs for pre-season. Chelsea also have several players returning to the club for the start of pre-season, with the majority coming back from loan spells.
Thomas Tuchel would like to build on his Champions League-winning squad from last season and will certainly look to evaluate the players at his disposal before making any transfer decisions. With many of the first-team players heavily involved in international tournaments, they will likely be omitted from early pre-season, providing an opportunity for the fringe players to impress Tuchel.
Chelsea will definitely look to offload players this season to accommodate any new signings that might come in. Here, we take a look at the 5 Chelsea players who need to impress in pre-season:
#5 Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was a regular starter under Maurizio Sarri in the 2018/19 season and was also part of England's World Cup squad that reached the semi-finals in 2018. But a ruptured Achilles tendon injury on the eve of the Europa League final in 2019 has completely derailed his career.
He was pretty much out for most of the 2019/20 season and subsequently loaned to Fulham in order to gain more minutes. But the 25-year old failed to make an impression and had to settle for a bit-part at Craven Cottage.
Now back at Chelsea, the midfielder will certainly look to return to his best and impress Tuchel to regain his spot in the first team. The German tactician is already a huge admirer of Loftus-Cheek, even comparing him to Chelsea legend Michael Ballack in an interview.
Billy Gilmour's loan move to Norwich has opened up a spot in Chelsea's midfield, but Loftus-Cheek knows that Tuchel will demand an improvement to have any chance of getting a first-team role.
With a lot of competition already in midfield and potential young talent coming through, Loftus-Cheek knows that it's now or never for him at Chelsea as he will be determined to prove himself to Tuchel, despite interest from other clubs in Europe.
#4 Armando Broja
With Olivier Giroud reportedly on the verge of joining AC Milan and Tammy Abraham's future uncertain, Tuchel could look to use 19-year-old Armando Broja to provide depth in the striker's department.
Broja quickly came through the ranks at Chelsea and was one of the star performers in the youth set-up. He was rewarded for his performances and was sent out on loan last season to Vitesse in the Dutch first division. He had an excellent season there, scoring 10 goals in the process with an xG (expected goals) of 7.00 and was integral in helping Vitesse finish 4th in the table, their highest position since 2013.
Broja has already made his senior debut for Chelsea against Everton in the last game before lockdown and has already made six appearances for the Albanian national team.
There have been reports that Chelsea have already started negotiating a new contract with the youngster as they look to secure his future. Broja will definitely want to impress Tuchel in pre-season to continue his development at Chelsea and be a part of the first-team.