Chelsea have been training at the club's Cobham base ahead of their Premier League opener against Fulham on Monday evening
Chelsea players pose during training at Cobham
Chelsea players pose during training(Image: Chelsea FC)
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After Saturday afternoon's final pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad, Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso confirmed his side would have just five training sessions to prepare for his Premier League managerial debut against Fulham on Monday evening.
The real business is about to get going for Alonso and his Blues squad but before the trip to Craven Cottage, they will undergo their final few training sessions. Chelsea's first-team squad had one on Tuesday in the slightly milder Surrey sunshine with the fifth heatwave of the British summer now behind us.
So, with that being said, football.london takes a close look at the latest training images released by the club and we've had a look at what we spotted from Cobham.
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Fernandez's stern look
Enzo Fernandez did not look particularly pleased in one of the photos released by Chelsea. The Argentine was clearly on the winning team in one of the drills prepared by Alonso and his backroom staff, alongside the likes of Levi Colwill, Jamie Gittens, Marco Palestra, Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Robert Sanchez, Josh Acheampong and Malo Gusto.
Fernandez looks the moodiest of the bunch. From the outside, it looks as if he is playing a joke, or trying to look nonchalant, but it caught the eye of some social media users given the ongoing speculation over his future at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea players pose during training at Cobham
Chelsea players pose during training(Image: Chelsea FC)
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This could mean very little, of course, and it might just be a gimmick from Fernandez. There are other photos, not from the session in question, where the Argentine midfielder has been all smiles with his Chelsea teammates in Cobham.
Either way, an intriguing few days awaits in the Fernandez saga. Chelsea set Manchester City a deadline last Friday to pay their £120million asking price. If they had coughed up that sum before 5pm on Friday, the Blues would have done business with their Premier League rivals. Now, though, City face a much more difficult task.
Alonso wants to keep him in the squad for the upcoming season. There is no doubting that Alonso's pre-match press conference on Thursday (1:30pm UK time) will be dominated by questions over Fernandez and where his future lies.
The 10 Chelsea players not spotted in training
Before we list off the 10 Chelsea players not spotted in Tuesday's training session, it is worth remembering the club only release a handful of photos, so they could have still been involved in some sort of capacity.
Mamadou Sarr, Tosin Adarabioyo, Axel Disasi, Jordan Henderson, Mykhailo Mudryk, Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Emmanuel Emegha, Marc Guiu and Danny Welbeck were all not pictured. Interestingly enough, none of these players were involved in Chelsea's squad for the win over Real Sociedad on Saturday afternoon.
Emegha and Henderson are both likely to be fitness-related. The former missed the club's pre-season tour due to a hamstring injury but was seen in training last week. The latter suffered a serious arm injury during England's World Cup campaign but was also on the grass at Cobham in the build-up to Chelsea's friendly win over La Real.
We are not sure on Welbeck - and will likely hear more from Alonso on Thursday afternoon - but one would presume it is to do with fitness given his involvement during the club's tour. The others being left out could be to do with speculation over their Chelsea futures.
Chelsea are looking to send Sarr out on loan, ideally somewhere in the Premier League. Tosin is up for sale, as are Disasi, Jackson, Delap and Guiu. Mudryk is set to be loaned, although where is yet to be determined.
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