5 Chelsea players who need a great pre-season to save their career
Chelsea will kick-start their pre-season campaign under newly appointed manager Maurizio Sarri against Perth Glory at the Optus Stadium in Perth later today. The Blues will be looking for a breath of fresh air under the former Napoli coach following their dismal performances under Antonio Conte last season. Chelsea will be without the likes of World Cup stars Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, N'Golo Kante, Gary Cahill and Ruben Loftus-Cheek while Kurt Zouma has not travelled to Australia due to an injury.
However, the 25-man pre-season squad named by Sarri includes a number of players who will have to fight tooth and nail to revive their careers under the new manager at Stamford Bridge. Following their exploits in Perth, Chelsea will travel to Nice for their International Champions Cup campaign in which they are scheduled to lock horns with Inter Milan.
Furthermore, Chelsea will face Manchester City on the 5th of August for the Community Shield in a fixture sandwiched between games against Arsenal (Dublin) and Lyon (Stamford Bridge), to complete their warm up games before the start of the upcoming season. In this segment, we take a closer look at 5 players who will have to impress Sarri during pre-season to revive their careers.
Without further delay, let's delve into the same:
#5 Lucas Piazon
Ever since making his debut for the first team back in 2012, Lucas Piazon has struggled to leave a lasting impact at Stamford Bridge like many other youngsters who have had to seek other options due to the lack of opportunities with Chelsea. Piazon showed glimpses of his potential during his competitive as well as Premier League debut against Wolves and Aston Villa respectively, wherein he managed to grab an assist on both occasions en route to thumping victories for Chelsea.
However, since then the 24-year-old has had to go out on loan to 5 different clubs including Malaga, Vitesse, Eintracht Frankfurt and back to England with second division outfits Reading and Fulham. Piazon has impressed during his recent 2 year loan spell with Fulham, amassing over 50 appearances and registering about 10 goals during his time at Craven Cottage.
Often deployed anywhere ranging from wide left to wide right or just behind the striker, the Brazilian's versatility could work wonders under a manager like Maurizio Sarri and his sound defensive work rate is an added bonus to any side that he will be playing for this season.