Chelsea play their second friendly of preseason tonight, taking on Celtic tonight at the much more friendly time of 9pm compared to their 3.30am game against Wrexham in midweek.
For those of us who stayed up to watch the 2-2 draw with the Welsh side, there were a few interesting notes to take from it. One of those was the impressive showing from 18 year old summer signing Marc Guiu. He will be itching to get back onto the pitch tonight and pick up where he left off, and without doubt he’s the player we’re most interested to watch.
It’s not just that Guiu is an exciting player – it’s also that he really feels like one of the players who can change their futures in these preseason matches. While some have their futures pretty much sorted – first team, loan options or up for sale – Guiu really feels like he can change his destiny if he keeps impressing.
Who knows – if he plays as well in the next few games as his did on Wednesday, he might even convince the co-sporting directors to change their transfer plans.
Guiu isn’t the only one we’re excited to see. Youngsters Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong should get another chance, and we also get to see new signings like Tosin Adarabioyo try to prove they deserve a starting spot come the opening game of the season against Man City.
Romeo Lavia is a player who we didn’t see last season, and Christopher Nkunku has a lot to prove too after a patchy and injury addled campaign. You can never draw too many conclusions from the results of these preseason games, but you can definitely work out a little about what the manager is thinking, and which individuals are improving their stock.