Chelsea were back on the training pitches once again on Wednesday as Mauricio Pochettino continued to familiarise himself with his new squad during his first week in charge of the Blues. The 51-year-old head coach first cast his eye over his squad on Tuesday having acquainted himself with Cobham on Monday and undertaken his media duties.
The West London side have a two-week period to prepare for the first pre-season friendly in the United States when they face Wrexham in North Carolina. Pochettino will hope to have guaged some idea of the players he hopes to utilise moving forwards by that point, with more players set to depart Stamford Bridge after Mason Mount became the latest.
football.london has taken a look at the talking points to emerge from day two of pre-season training.
New players pictured
Young talents such as Ian Maatsen, Bashir Humphreys, Andrey Santos and Cesare Casadei were all pictured training on day one having returned from their respective loan deals. The trio will be hoping to put in a quick and good impression on Pochettino, with Casadei in particular being part of a group of left backs who have all returned to training already in Lewis Hall, Marc Cucurella and Ben Chilwell.
The Blues saw more youngsters come to the fore in today's release of photographs as Alfie Gilchrist, who was named on Chelsea bench towards the end of last season, and Omari Hutchinson, who made his first debut earlier in 2023, involved after their time with the development squad in Portugal. Gilchrist however, is managing a cut at the moment which could also be seen covered by a large bandage.
READ MORE: Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
Armando Broja
Having been left out of Chelsea's initial release yesterday, outside of blurred appearance in the background of photographs in Chelsea's gym, the Blues did show some pictures of Broja working indoors on Tuesday. Wednesday, however, saw the club make a bigger deal out of his return outdoors, with the Albania international also declaring it was 'good to be back' on Instagram.
The academy product will be carefully managed as he continues his comeback from injury that put him out of last season back in December
Players missing
Of course, this is just the start of Chelsea's sessions so there is a plethora of players yet to return to the club. Players currently involved on international duty like Gabriel Slonina, Levi Colwill, Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk are yet to return, while those involved in friendlies last month such as Conor gallagher, Wesley Fofana and Kepa Arrizabalaga are still enjoying their time away from the club and are expect to join up later.
However, there are instances of players who have not had involvment on the international scene and still have not been featured in the club's photographs at least. Players such as Cesar Azpilicueta, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang do not appear to have been coached by Pochettino to just yet, and have been strongly linked to moves away from the club. Their absence may indicate that process is still underway and likely.
Leading the way
With no Cesar Azpilicueta in action, and a number of other leaders having departed the club, it was little surprise that Reece James looked to be leading the line of Chelsea's running. The wingback is making his return from injury once again and will be a key player for the Blues once again.
