With the bloated Chelsea first team squad right now, a number of players who have played key roles before to watch yesterday’s game from either the stands or at home.
One of those was never going to feature is Trevoh Chalobah, who the club are in the process of forcing out in ruthless circumstances.
Chalobah was left off the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, and reports continue to claim that there is Premier League interest in signing him this summer.
- READ MORE: Champions League club interested in Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah after selling £42m defender
He will likely have been sitting thinking he could have helped the Blues during their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in Enzo Maresca’s first game as Chelsea manager.
There were a few promising performances from individuals though, and one of those was from Romeo Lavia in his first competitive start for the club.
Chalobah really impressed by Romeo Lavia
Chalobah was quick to take to social media to respond to the midfielder’s performance, commenting on his Instagram post to praise him.
He simply said: “Balled.”
Lavia will have given many hope that they can continue to play in the style that Maresca is looking to introduce to the club.
He looked very comfortable picking up the ball from his defenders, and starting attacks as a result.
It has previously been claimed that Chelsea see Lavia as an ‘elite talent’, and even has the potential to be a future captain.
Enzo Maresca not happy with Chelsea fans
Chelsea supporters were not so content with this style of play. Maresca was seen agitated at the crowd response to the patience they showed in building up from the back.
Lavia will likely be one of the first names on the teamsheet for the coming games, with him easily being the best performer of the very expensive midfield trio that was named in the starting side.
One player who seemed to struggle was Enzo Fernandez, with him struggling to get to grips with the role he was being asked to play.
Maresca has the chance to replace Fernandez with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, whose attacking strengths could well help link things together better for the Blues.
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