Chelsea are more than a week into pre-season training and Mauricio Pochettino will be beginning to formulate his verdicts on the players in training. He will be challenged by a new influx of players this week as Chelsea's stars who have been involved in international duty begin to return to Cobham ahead of the club's tour of the United States.
After a season where Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League, the Blues have a point to prove, with the vast majority of the squad required to improve their performances to ensure that the west London side's efforts improve under a new boss. While Chelsea's stars will need to prove themselves worthy of supporters, they will first need to prove themselves worthy of Pochettino's consideration for his squad that heads on the pre-season tour and also his starting XI when the time comes.
football.london takes a look at the candidates who will look to either catch Pochettino's eye or reassure him over the group that he has at his disposal.
Kepa Arrizabalaga - The Spanish goalkeeper managed to come out of last term with plenty of credit after cementing himself as Chelsea's number one. Kepa managed to return to Spain's national team and has already seen Edouard Mendy depart west London, with another keeper yet to arrive.
It will be down to the 28-year-old to put in an early positive impression to ensure the Blues are not tempted to return to signing a new goalkeeper as a new number one, particularly with Kepa having just two years remaining on his contract.
Marc Cucurella - The defender will be part of a key group of players all attempting to win Pochettino over. From the first days of Chelsea's pre-season return, the Blues have had a cohort of four players who can feature at left-back in Ben Chilwell, Cucurella, Lewis Hall, and Ian Maatsen, who has trained with Chelsea's first team group rather than the secondary collection of players expected to depart the club on a loan or permanent deal.
READ MORE: Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
After signing for £62million last summer, Cucurella was unable to live up to his price tag and will have to hit the ground running to stand out amid some quality competition in Pochettino's first weeks at the club. By handing Maatsen, in particular a chance, Pochettino has already suggested that his options are not fixed and that could work for and against Cucurella.
Andrey Santos - The Brazil under-20 captain has finally arrived at Cobham in a position to train at the end of his Vasco da Gama loan and with the departures of Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante, an obvious pathway to Chelsea's first team has opened up.
Enzo Fernandez has no clear partner as the Blues continue in their bid to land Moises Caicedo, while Conor Gallagher's future has been uncertain. Santos comes in with high potential, but has not had a great deal of experience at the top level, the youngster must prove he can mix it to be awarded a place in the Premier League squad.
Carney Chukwuemeka - The former Aston Villa star arrived for £20million last summer and with a great deal of expectation following the promise had shown. The Blues are open to the possibility of a loan but having already returned to training Chukwuemeka whill hope to convince Pochettino he is worth more than the 345 minutes of Premier League footbal last term, to ensure remaining at Stamford Bridge is worthwhile.
Armando Broja - How quickly Broja can impress as he returns from his injury could dictate Chelsea's transfer policy for the rest of the window. The Blues have already signed Nicolas Jackson up front, but there is a sense the club could yet return for another striker given their struggles in front of goal in recent seasons.
With no European football, Pochettino could yet deem two strikers enough and Broja's performances in training could go a long way to helping Pochettino get to that decision, given the young striker already has Premier League experience.
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