Chelsea are continuing to ramp up their pre-season efforts after returning from the tour of the USA. The Blues struggled to string together results in their time overseas, mounting some pressure on Thomas Tuchel with the new Premier League campaign just over one week away.
One final friendly against Udinese on Friday will round off the preparation for next season, where the Blues will find a familiar face first up in Everton and former manager and player Frank Lampard. Tuchel will be hoping his men are better prepared as he continues his forays into the transfer market.
The latest round of training photos has dropped and has shown a number of interesting things. From a huge triple boost to last ditch challenges, here's four things spotted from training.
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Triple return boost
Chelsea have been boosted by the return of three players to training this week. Those three are N'Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Armando Broja, who haven't been involved as much as many would hope during the pre-season tour due to varying reasons.
Kante and Loftus-Cheek were unable to make the trip to America for the tour due to their vaccination status, meaning the pair were forced to stay in England and were seen playing warm up games with the academy teams. Having the pair back in training with the squad again and in contention for Udinese will come as a huge boost.
The return of Broja is also come with a huge sigh of relief after the striker returned early from the tour with his foot in a protective boot as a precaution. While speculation continues over the centre-forward's future, being back in training could see him back in the fold for the start of the season.
Sterling's trickery
Raheem Sterling has been a thorn in the side of Premier League defenders for some time now and following his transfer from Manchester City, the Blues will be hoping he can keep that up. It seems as though he will be doing just that though as he got up to his old tricks in training.
The England international was seen in a duel with Cesar Azpilicueta, managing to turn the club captain before accelerating beyond him and into space.
Last ditch tackles
While it is hard to replicate match scenarios in training, you can't take away how serious the Blues appear to be taking their session currently. Several last ditch challenges were seen, despite the training regime not being in a competitive format like a league game.
One clear challenge saw Mason Mount throw himself in front of a shot from Jorginho. Another saw Conor Gallagher, known for his tenacity in pressing, stretching every sinew to deny Loftus-Cheek an opportunity.
Positive atmosphere
Despite some of the negativity surrounding pre-season results, the camp still appears to be in good spirit as they're being put through their paces. One picture saw Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Marcos Alonso full of smiles as they challenge each other for a loose ball, while another had Thiago Silva and Emerson Palmieri laughing with each other.
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