Chelsea supporters were singing the name of Xavier Mbuyamba after he made his long-awaited debut for the U23s side yesterday.
Mbuyamba joined the Blues last summer on a free transfer after leaving Barcelona, but was struck down by a knee injury in only his second training session.
An absence that was only meant to last a couple of months stretched out to almost a year.
Thankfully, he was back in action last night and Chelsea fans liked what they saw from the Dutch defender.
His second coming couldn’t have gone much better. Mbuyamba was not on the pitch for very long before he scored against Southampton U23s in the Blues 3-1 victory.
This will certainly have lifted the 19-year-old’s mood following his sickening spell out on the side-lines.
Andy Myers’ development side have four league games remaining to get Mbuyamba as many minutes under his belt before pre-season begins.
Thomas Tuchel will undoubtedly want to use this time to mull over his academy talent and spot who could make the step up to his senior squad.
One of those who has already caught his eye is Tino Anjorin.
Anjorin was another goal scorer versus the Saints, selected by Myers because he missed out on Chelsea’s travelling Champions League squad to play Porto later today.
Tuchel has regularly included the teenager in his first team training sessions, but felt there was too much riding on the European tie to take any risks.
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