Chelsea got their 2022/23 campaign underway the past weekend and earned a long-awaited win at Goodison Park thanks to Jorginho's penalty. It was perhaps not the most accomplished all-round performance but it was the Blues' first win away at Everton since 2017 and got the season moving in the right direction on the opening day.
Plenty of the interest surrounding Thomas Tuchel's side would have been concerning new signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling who made their full debuts against the Toffees, while latest signing Marc Cucurella earned his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt. Others may have been concerned with those absent from the Chelsea squad - the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ethan Ampadu, Malang Sarr, Timo Werner and Marcos Alonso were all absent, with the latter two set for transfers.
There was another cohort of players in action over the weekend however, the much-vaunted Chelsea loan army. The Blues have not yet hit the numbers of recent years but have 14 players out on loan looking to gain vital experience and prove the talent's in the world of football. football.london took a look at how Chelsea's loan stars got on this past weekend below:
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Prince Adegoke - The goalkeeper had to make do with a place on the bench as Welling United drew 0-0 with Taunton Town.
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Nathan Baxter - The 23-year-old returned for a second season on loan at Hull City but has been hit by injury at the start of the term. Baxter dislocated a finger during the Tiger's pre-season training camp in Spain. Hull are set to add former Spurs goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala. Shota Arveladze has said the 19-year-old will be given the opportunity compete for a spot in the starting XI.
Lucas Bergstrom - The Finish goalkeeper earned a cleansheet as Peterborough United defeated Morecambe 3-0 in their second match of the season. Bergstrom was required to pull off some top quality saves over the course of 90 minutes, including denying a one v one opportunity and stopping a shot from inside the six-yard area.
Peterborough boss Grant McCann said of Bergstrom: "Lucas is a top young goalkeeper, who is only going to get better. He made two huge saves today. I feel lucky to have two of the best young goalkeepers in the country at the club in Lucas and Harvey Cartwright."
Gabriel Slonina - One of Chelsea's newest signings, the glovesman referred to as Gaga, faced the press ahead of his team's match against Charlotte FC as the Chicago Fire promoted the 18-year-old's Blues transfer. The MLS star immediately returned to the team that developed him, but expects to head to Cobham in January.
He said: "A lot can change but right now I'm back on loan with the Chicago Fire so my focus is going to be on bringing us to the play-offs and lifting the MLS Cup. I'm going to be hopefully be joining January 1, it's going to be a journey from here till then."
The youngster also explained how excited he was to work with Edouard Mendy, adding: "Working with Edouard Mendy, it's going to be unreal to see what he does in training, how he handles the ball, what he's doing before play gets to him. Analysing him before he works, it's going to be incredible."
Slonina went on to celebrate a 3-2 win on Saturday evening.
Ethan Wady - The young goalkeeper found himself on the bench as Woking lost to York City 2-0.
Jamie Cumming - Cumming was only beaten by a penalty as MK Dons suffered consecutive 1-0 defeat to open their season with Sheffield Wednesday emerging victorious on this occasion.
Henry Lawrence - The defender could only make the MK Dons bench.
Levi Colwill - Having completed his loan deal to Brighton late last week, Colwill made his debut for Graham Potter's side as he came on in stoppage time to replace Solly March as the Seagulls defeated Manchester United 2-1.
Potter has already illustrated his excitement to work with the Cobham product: "Levi has enormous potential and has already shown his ability last season in the Championship and with England at various age group levels up to under-21s. I am really looking forward to working with him on the training pitch, and in matches over the course of the season.
“He plays mostly at centre-back, but has also played on the left as a full-back, and he is a player who is comfortable on the ball.”
Ian Maatsen - After scoring the winning goal against Huddersfield Town in the opening week of the Championship season, Maatsen backed up his performance with a man of the match effort against Luton Town. The Dutch defender put in a less marauding performance than in his debut but showed plenty of threat and defensive intelligence.
Ahead of the game Vincent Kompany gave his verdict on the youngster. He said: “I think I was more nervous than him before the game [against Huddersfield]! We do need that calmness. The goal is a good thing but (away from that) he stayed on his feet, won all his duels. That is a good sign, for such a young full back to do that in the Championship. I understand why he had such a good season last season (with Coventry), and he is going to give us a lot."
Sam McClelland - The Northern Ireland defender made his EFL debut for Barrow in his first outing of the season, but had to settle for a place on the bench against Bradford. Nevertheless he took to the pitch after just 15 minutes and managed to provide an assist for the League Two side's second goal of the game as they came away 3-2 winners.
Tino Anjorin - Huddersfield Town fell to their second defeat of the season but Anjorin earned his first start in his second loan spell with the club. The Chelsea loanee had a tough outing but showed that he could build moves from deep in his display. Appears to still be building his fitness as he gestured to come off in the second half as the Terriers attempted to come back against Birmingham.
Tiemoue Bakayoko - Once again missing as he was left out of Milan's squad for the friendly against Vicenza. The midfielder perhaps needs to find another loan to cut his two-year move short.
Romelu Lukaku - The Belgian striker made his way onto the scoresheet but Inter were handily beaten 4-2 by Villarreal.
Bryan Fiabema - Could only manage a place on the bench as Rosenborg beat HamKam 2-1.
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