Chelsea's stars took to the training pitches of Cobham on a chilly January day as new signing Mykailho Mudryk had his first opportunity to size up his new teammates after joining from Shakhtar Donetsk. The 22-year-old completed a deal worth in the region of £60million that could rise as high as £88million should certain conditions be met, but has not played in a competitive match since October.
He joined the group preparing to take on Liverpool at Anfield at lunchtime on Saturday with both teams 10 points away from the Champions League places. It will be the first time the sides face off this term having played four times during 2021/22. Each of those meetings finished with the sides level after 90 minutes, though Jurgen Klopp's side prevailed on penalties on two occasions.
The build-up to the clash has offered a rare opportunity to hold almost a week of interrupted training. With four new players having joined already this month in the form of Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Joao Felix and David Datro Fofana, it has perhaps never been more acutely needed.
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With that said, football.london takes a look at some of the key takeaways from training below:
Mudryk's first moments
The Ukraine international headed out to the pitches alone before being joined by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who placed his arm around Chelsea's latest signing. They were soon joined by an enthusiastic Bashir Humphrey who helped greet Mudryk onto the pitches. Loftus-Cheek, who returned to Chelsea's first team squad at the weekend following injury, looked to provide some reassurance and conversation.
As they walked across the training pitches it appeared that Mudryk said: "I'm free now." With Loftus-Cheek returning with a laugh: "Now you're free."
In the released footage, Mudryk looked lively competing with Chelsea's first team stars and produced a fine finish in the shooting element of the session. He produced a flick over his head in between drills and combined for some nice passing to receive praise from the coaching staff who made sure to check in on him during his outing. The youngster even got a pat on the shoulder from Hakim Ziyech when they returned to the building following training.
Injury boost
Chelsea training also saw Reece James and Ben Chilwell involved. James had trained outdoors last week but not with the team and appears to have made a step up in his progress to return to the pitch after the setback he suffered against Bournemouth. Chilwell featured in a number of drills too and was deemed close to a return ahead of Fulham and Crystal Palace, and appears to have continued to make good progress.
There was no sign of Wesley Fofana however. The Frenchman was pictured earlier this week kitted out in his training gear but did not feature on Wednesday.
Similarly, there was no sign of Kai Havertz in the club's released media. The German forward played every minute of Premier League football following its return after the World Cup break up until the 89th minute against Crystal Palace and appears to have cemented himself as Graham Potter's preferred option up front. It will be a nervous wait for fans to discover whether he was missing due to an injury, but there are still a number of days to go until Liverpool.
Youth still involved
The rapid introduction of new signings has certainly filled out Chelsea's squad, to the extent their could even be some Champions League issues. Positions could be tighter, particularly if injured stars complete their return to fitness, with Omari Hutchinson being the fixture of recent weeks to miss out on the squad.
Potter has shown no sign of not utilising his talents in training just yet however, with Bashir Humphrey also continuing his role within sessions. There was even a new face as 20-year-old Lucas Bergstrom, fresh from returning from his loan at Peterborough United, participated in the net.
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