The Chelsea scouts will be busy watching potential transfer targets during the World Cup, although one Strasbourg player is likely to miss the opening games of the competition due to injury.
Xabi Alonso will be praying that a number of his key stars survive the tournament without any fitness concerns, including Reece James, Moises Caicedo and Jorrel Hato.
There is a concern to many about the standard of pitches, with Chelsea being all too familiar with the challenges posed following their Club World Cup triumph last summer.
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Chelsea target Julio Enciso injured days before the World Cup
A number of countries are engaging in warmup friendlies before the tournament. Malo Gusto struggled when used as a substitute in France’s loss to Ivory Coast.
Paraguay got their preparation off to a great start with a 4-0 win over Nicaragua, however suffered the blow of seeing key man Julio Enciso forced off injured.
Journalist Jorge Izquierdo has stated that the issue will leave him with a race against time to be fit for their third group game against Australia.
Enciso joined Strasbourg last summer after negotiations with BlueCo, and enjoyed a strong season.
The youngster believes he is already better than Valentin Barco, who is set to move to Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.
The future Chelsea star is another who will have the chance to impress at the World Cup, alongside Enzo Fernandez in the Argentina side.
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Andrea Cambiaso is the latest player to be linked.
Chelsea have not promised Enciso move to Stamford Bridge
As soon as he signed for Strasbourg, there was talk about the former Brighton man being one of the players who eventually makes the step up to Chelsea.
Unlike the likes of Emanuel Emegha and Mamadou Sarr, Enciso has Premier League experience under his belt already in his career.
However, Chelsea did not promise Enciso a direct path to the club from the fellow BlueCo club, instead telling him he needs to earn it with his performances.
He will no doubt have been hoping that the World Cup could have been the platform to do so, although he is now in a race against time to make a genuine contribution.
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