Fofana settling in
It is less than a week since Wesley Fofana arrived at Chelsea from Leicester City in a deal worth around £70million. The Frenchman has certainly been busy. After just two training sessions with his new teammates, the Frenchman started the 2-1 victory over West Ham United on Saturday.
Fofana was back at Chelsea's training base in Cobham yesterday for a recovery session and this afternoon was with the rest of the first-team squad that flew out to Croatia and trained at the home of Dinamo this evening. You doubt he has had much time to unpack his things.
At 21 years old, there is a youthful exuberance to Fofana and that was clear as he shared a joke with one of Thomas Tuchel's backroom staff as the players undertook their pre-training warm-up this evening. He will be hoping of making his Champions League debut tomorrow night, something that is extremely likely given Thiago Silva hasn't travelled with the squad.
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"We decided with Thiago that he will have a break from the travelling and the stress after playing every minute so far in very intense matches," explained Tuchel. "It was the moment to give him a break instead of putting him on the bench and having the travel issues. He takes care of his recovery."
Kovacic pushes on
The opening weeks of the campaign have not been easy for Mateo Kovacic. The midfielder struggled with a knee injury throughout pre-season, didn't feature in Chelsea's opening three Premier League games, and has yet to complete 90 minutes. He will hope that changes in Zagreb.
Kovacic began his career with the Croatian club – and countless members of his family are expected to attend tomorrow night's clash. The 28-year-old will be desperate to start and appeared problem-free as he undertook tonight's training session on the Stadion Maksimir pitch.
"I have recovered and am getting better day by day," Kovacic stated during his pre-match press conference, during which he cut a relaxed figure. "I need to get my sharpness and fitness back but games and training are there for it so I’m looking forward to being better every day."
Academy focus
For several years – perhaps even a decade – Chelsea supporters yearned for an academy graduate to break into the first-team squad and emulate the on-pitch achievements of John Terry. That wait came to an end in the summer of 2019 when Frank Lampard incorporated several youngsters into his first-team group.
Some have moved on since but Reece James and Mason Mount, in particular, have truly established themselves as undisputed Chelsea starters. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, has displayed great versatility in recent months to a regular place in the matchday squad and Trevoh Chalobah has shown himself to be an impressive centre-back when called upon by Tuchel.
And this summer, the table of academy graduates grew with Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja brought into the fold after loan spells at Crystal Palace and Southampton respectively. Both have featured – with varied results – in the opening games of the campaign yet should play important roles in the weeks and months ahead as Chelsea compete across four fronts.
The sight of six homegrown players undertaking training ahead of an important Champions League fixture is reason to celebrate. And there are more ready and waiting for an opportunity to impress if selected by Tuchel going forward.
The masked man
After he completed his move from Barcelona on deadline day, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang flew straight to Milan to have a mask constructed and fitted; it is to protect a jaw injury he sustained during an assault at his home in Catalonia by an armed gang at the start of last weekend.
With the aid of the mask, Aubameyang was able to complete yesterday's training session at Cobham. And while it wasn't worn for the warm-up at the Stadion Maksimir this evening, the 33-year-old masked up when the ball work began with the rest of the first-team squad.
Should there be no discomfort or concern on the part of Aubameyang, he will be in contention to start Chelsea's Champions League opener. "He had a test with his mask [yesterday] and felt fine, trained normal. If everything goes well today he will be available," Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference.
"He’s very ambitious, very focused. He’s hungry to play for us and prove a point. That’s why he’s here, that’s what we felt from the first moment. He is happily invited to prove a point tomorrow."
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