Chelsea officially announce 27-man pre-season tour squad – Read Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea have confirmed the 27 players who will initially travel to Sydney for their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.
The Chelsea pre-season tour squad includes Marco Palestra, Cole Palmer and several academy players, while more senior members are expected to join during the trip.
Chelsea’s official announcement says Xabi Alonso’s group will leave London on Friday. Four goalkeepers, nine defenders, seven midfielders and seven forwards have been selected for the opening stage of the tour.
Chelsea pre-season tour squad includes academy players
Palestra is the only summer signing specifically highlighted by the club. Dastan Satpaev, Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and Joao Pedro are among the attacking players travelling, while Reggie Walsh, Reggie Watson and Landon Emenalo have also been included.
Reece James, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Morgan Rogers and Nicolas Jackson are not part of the initial 27-man list. Chelsea have not provided individual return dates but say several first-team players will report during the tour.
Emmanuel Emegha and Geovany Quenda are also absent from the travelling party. The club have not explained Quenda’s omission in the squad announcement.
Emegha featured during Chelsea’s early pre-season programme, with ReadChelsea reporting that he scored in the 3-1 behind-closed-doors win over Crawley Town.
Chelsea begin against Western Sydney Wanderers at Accor Stadium on Tuesday, 28 July. They face Tottenham at the same venue four days later before travelling to Hong Kong for a meeting with Juventus.
The tour concludes with matches against AC Milan in Jakarta on 8 August and Johor Darul Ta’zim in Malaysia the following day. All five games will be shown live on CFC+.
The Chelsea pre-season tour squad gives Alonso his first extended period with many of his players away from Cobham. Further arrivals should strengthen the group as the tour progresses.
