Amongst those returning to Chelsea training over the next week from Qatar will be an extra group of Blues players. Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling are all still in the World Cup - though Sterling is coming home for other reasons - but Graham Potter's arsenal of choices is about to grow.
He has already named a 25-man squad that will get some warm weather training ahead of the return of domestic action in just over three weeks. That group includes 12 academy stars as well as some that are currently injured, returning from injury and there will now be more reinforcements available.
Christian Pulisic is out of the World Cup, Kai Havertz was dumped out in the group and also on their way back are Senegal duo Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy. The backline duo fell to defeat against England in the last-16 and failed to show the same level of defensive resilience that took them to the African Cup of Nations earlier this year.
