Arguably the breakout star of Chelsea's pre-season tour of Australia has not been one of their new signings, but 16-year-old academy midfielder Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli.
The youngster only completed his GCSEs a few months ago, but started his first senior match in the loss to Juventus as one of two holding midfielders alongside Moises Caicedo.
It was reward for an impressive 45-minute appearance against Tottenham after coming on at half-time in Sydney, where his mother's side of the family is from.
At Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, Nicoll-Jazuli produced a number of encouraging moments.
He constantly demanded the ball, won possession on the edge of the Juventus penalty area at the end of the first half to set up a headed chance for Gittens, and showed he could compete physically against more experienced opponents.
Nicoll-Jazuli was half the age of debutant Welbeck but has played more minutes than any of Chelsea's other midfielders during pre-season. He has not looked out of place despite often playing further forward as an attacking midfielder at youth level.
Behind the scenes, Chelsea regard the England Under-17s international as a special talent and have been accelerating his development through opportunities to break academy records over the past year.
Last season, Nicoll-Jazuli became Chelsea's youngest player to score and appear in the Under-19s Uefa Youth League. He also featured regularly for the under-21s while aged 15, including in EFL Trophy matches against experienced EFL opposition.
It is part of a wider strategy by senior academy staff to retain the club's brightest prospects in an increasingly competitive environment following Brexit. Chelsea lost Rio Ngumoha to Liverpool and winger Ryan McAidoo, who has impressed under Enzo Maresca during Manchester City's pre-season programme, in 2024.
Those departures sent shockwaves through Cobham and prompted a more proactive approach towards leading young talents. Nicoll-Jazuli and his family have already built relationships with senior figures at Chelsea, helping to convince him to sign a professional contract when he turns 17 in January.
Holding a French passport, he has also had options elsewhere, including interest from Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich. However, Nicoll-Jazuli is expected to stay and likely to make his competitive Chelsea debut at some point this season.