Xabi Alonso could be in a position to hand out two more Chelsea debuts after the international break, with Marco Palestra and Emmanuel Emegha on course to be available for selection against Bournemouth.
Both players are yet to feature for Chelsea competitively since their arrivals in the summer.
Emegha was prevented from going on tour to Australia and Asia due to sustaining a hamstring injury.
Prior to that, the Dutchman, who joined Chelsea from BlueCo sister club Strasbourg, had scored in behind-closed-doors friendlies to kick off the Alonso era, against Crawley and Bromley.
Palestra, meanwhile, was a prominent fixture throughout pre-season, taking part in friendly wins over Western Sydney Wanderers, AC Milan and Real Sociedad, as well as the defeats to Tottenham and Juventus.
The Italian, however, suffered a quad problem before the opening game of the campaign against Fulham and has been on the sidelines ever since.
“The injury is something on the quad. He's almost in the last stages of the recovery, so we will see. If [he is] not [fit for] Brentford, then Bournemouth for sure," Alonso said of Palestra.
"He's quite frustrated after a very good pre-season not to be able to play and to make his debut in the Premier League.
“But I told Marco, ‘Easy, the season is long, there will be a lot of games, and you will play your role, you will have your minutes, you will enjoy your game.’
“He is full of energy, and you need to control that.”
Another session. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/0fbB7OvOTO
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 29, 2026
Now the good news for Chelsea fans, and Alonso, is that it would appear Palestra and Emegha will be in contention to face Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge a week on Saturday after being put through their paces at Cobham.
Also present in the aforementioned training session was Danny Welbeck, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, Jordan Henderson, Pep Chavarria and Wesley Fofana.
