Chelsea's Pre-Season Success: Emegha Shines Despite Setback
Jamie Gittens kept his pre-season surge going and Emmanuel Emegha found the net again as Chelsea eased past League One side Bromley 3-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Cobham on Thursday, handing Xabi Alonso a second win from two in charge.
Joao Pedro was also on target as Chelsea backed up last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Crawley with another controlled workout, this one doubling as a final tune-up before the squad flies to Australia to start their pre-season tour. The scoreline was routine. The subplots were anything but.
Emegha shines, then suffers a setback
Emegha, signed this summer from BlueCo sister club Strasbourg, has wasted no time announcing himself. Tasked with chasing down Joao Pedro for the No9 role, he has done exactly what a new striker must do at Chelsea right now: score, and keep scoring.
He arrived with pedigree. Twenty-six goals in 65 Ligue 1 games, captain of Strasbourg at 21, and earmarked long ago for Stamford Bridge with a deal announced for him to join ahead of the 2026/27 season. Chelsea accelerated that plan. Emegha has been trying to accelerate everything else.
Goals in back-to-back friendlies gave him a strong early case for minutes next season, a direct challenge to Pedro’s status as first-choice centre-forward. The momentum was building. Then came the jolt.
During the win over Bromley, Emegha reportedly picked up a hamstring problem. By Friday, his name was missing from Chelsea’s initial 27-man squad list for the tour to Australia. For a striker trying to compress years of development into a few decisive weeks, the timing could hardly be worse.
He was not the only absentee. Fellow new arrival Geovany Quenda was also left out, understood to be managing a slight issue that is not considered serious. Even so, Alonso’s early plans in attack have taken an unexpected twist before a ball has been kicked in front of paying fans.
Gittens reminds Chelsea what he can do
If Emegha’s start has been about promise and frustration, Gittens’ has been about vindication.
Last season at Chelsea was a slog for the winger, his debut campaign interrupted and defined by injuries. The rhythm never came. The confidence never fully followed. Now, with a clean slate and a new head coach, he is making sure his name stays on the team sheet and in the conversation.
Another goal against Bromley underlined that point. Sharp in the final third, direct, and willing to attack space, Gittens has seized on the minutes Alonso has offered while senior options rest after the World Cup. With competition out wide intensifying, this matters.
Chelsea’s interest in Bayer Leverkusen teenager Kerim Alajbegovic has complicated the picture. Standard Sport understands that if the club decide to formalise that interest, they would have to consider a significant knock-on effect: selling Pedro Neto or moving Gittens out, potentially on loan.
That is the reality Gittens is playing against. Every pre-season game, every training session, becomes a referendum on his future. His response so far has been emphatic. His fast start is a timely reminder of his quality at a moment when decisions about the wing positions are looming.
Neto, Gittens and a crowded wing
Neto’s situation is more nuanced. Chelsea are not actively trying to sell the Portugal winger and have no immediate plans to offload him. Yet the door is not locked. It is understood the club would listen to serious offers, a stance that reflects both his value and the club’s flexibility in the market.
For now, Neto, like Rogers, is on an extended break after World Cup duty with Portugal. Their absence has created space for others. Gittens has stepped into that gap and made noise.
Around them, Alonso has been generous with opportunities for youth. Teenagers Landon Emenalo, Reggie Walsh and Reggie Watson all picked up minutes against Bromley, part of a wider pattern in these early days of his tenure. The new manager has arrived with a clear, confident air and a willingness to look beyond the established names.
Two games, two wins, plenty of goals, and a squad heading to Australia with questions still hanging over its attacking hierarchy. Emegha’s hamstring, Gittens’ form, Neto’s market value, Alajbegovic’s potential arrival – all of it feeds into one blunt reality.
At Chelsea this summer, every attacking player is on trial, and some of the verdicts are coming sooner than expected.
