Chelsea: Triple injury boost and two new signings arrive as Xabi Alonso begins pre-season work | OneFootball

Established first-teamers and academy prospects join up for first day of summer training amid brutal heatwave

There was plenty of good news for Chelsea fans on Thursday as 18 players reported at Cobham for day one of pre-season training.

Xabi Alonso took training at the Blues’ Surrey base for the first time and put his new squad through its paces, with pictures showing players getting down to some hard running amid a burning heatwave.

It was expected that any player who did not participate at the World Cup would be present for this first day of pre-season, and that proved broadly accurate.

Some injury worries were allayed for Chelsea as three players who finished last season in the treatment room made their returns to the pitch, with Estevao, Jamie Gittens and Romeo Lavia all putting in hard yards.

Estevao has shaken off the hamstring injury which ruled him out of the latter stages of the 2025/26 campaign

Two summer signings also featured, with Emmanuel Emegha and Geovany Quenda getting to grips with their new surroundings. So too did some up-and-coming academy talent, with Reggie Walsh, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, and Landon Emenalo all present as they look to catch Alonso’s eye.

Kazakh wonderkid Dastan Satpaev is also said to have been involved at Cobham.

There was no Marco Palestra a week after he signed with the club. Alejandro Garnacho did not report, either.

Of course, those players still representing their nations at the World Cup did not report, nor did those who had been recently eliminated, such as Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Jorrel Hato and Nicolas Jackson.

New digs: Ex-Strasbourg striker Emanuel Emegha debuts in Chelsea training

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Marc Guiu posted photos to his Instagram page working with a personal trainer in Spain on the same day his team-mates joined back up at Cobham. Mykhailo Mudryk did not appear, either, as he remains suspended for a doping violation.

Andrey Santos also did not feature as Standard Sport understands he will soon complete a transfer to Manchester United.

Other first-team stars uninvolved at the World Cup, including Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Joao Pedro, duly joined up.