Chelsea finally played their first pre-season friendly as they beat Erik ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen with their brand new wonderkid Estevao Willian starting and scoring.
Their first Premier League opponents will be Crystal Palace, for example, and Oliver Glasner’s side played their first behind-closed-doors friendly against Millwall on July 12.
That was a day before Chelsea played Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup in the United States on July 13 followed by a three-week break.
Here, Daily Mail Sport’s Chelsea correspondent Kieran Gill reveals five things he learned from this Friday night fixture at Stamford Bridge.
ESTE-WOW IS WORTH THE WAIT
Chelsea’s supporters had to wait a long while for Estevao Willian. Fourteen months to be exact, as it was in May 2024 when the club confirmed they had signed a Brazilian wonderkid who would arrive from Palmeiras once 18 years old.
Chelsea secured a 2-0 victory against Bayer Leverkusen in their first pre-season match
Goals from brand new wonderkid Estevao Willian and Joao Pedro got the job done for the Blues
In that time, they had seen so many clips of his mercurial brilliance, including at the Club World Cup when he scored against Chelsea from what looked like an impossible angle.
Here, he took 17 minutes to score for them. He spent the first half on the right wing, the second half at No 10, and for all the mocking of Chelsea’s transfer strategy, this boy from Brazil seems that special type of talent for whom you would happily pay the admission fee to watch.
MAD MARC IS A SCRAPPER
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber held a fan Q&A session this week and when asked on Chelsea, he jokingly described them as ‘my best customer’ after so many sales.
Marc Cucurella is no longer the £63million waste of money he was once considered, however. He is Chelsea’s cult hero who does not appear to know the meaning of the word ‘friendly’.
Cucurella was getting stuck into Leverkusen here and when Jarell Quansah left a naughty tackle in on Palmer, who was there to give the former Liverpool defender a piece of his mind? Cucurella, of course. Rumour has it Chelsea may reward him with an updated contract soon.
NO NICO, BUT CHELSEA HAVE STRIKER OPTIONS
Liam Delap started as Chelsea’s striker while Joao Pedro scored after coming on as a substitute. Nicolas Jackson was nowhere to be seen after Daily Mail Sport revealed he had been excluded from the squad for this friendly while the club work on selling him.
Estevao Willian seems that special type of talent for whom you would happily pay the admission fee to watch
Marc Cucurella is no longer the £63m waste of money he was once considered, and is Chelsea’s cult hero
If Jackson does leave as expected, Chelsea may not need to search for a emergency third-choice striker, even if Marc Guiu has been loaned to Sunderland. Maresca believes Estevao could be used as a false nine along with Palmer and Pedro Neto if need be.
COVER FOR COLWILL
Levi Colwill’s ACL injury suffered in their first training session back in pre-season was devastating news for Chelsea given how crucial he was to their last campaign.
They are considering whether they need to make a move for a central defender this month, but Josh Acheampong was used as the left-sided centre back here. It is an important position under Maresca as that player is expected to shuffle across when the left back inverts into midfield. Acheampong, 19, performed well, with Aaron Anselmino, 20, replacing him late on.
Jorrel Hato can also be used as a left-sided centre back as well as a left back, which is where the £37m signing from Ajax played here after replacing Cucurella at half-time.
MIDFIELD MEN HERE TO HELP
There was no Romeo Lavia in the Chelsea squad after he picked up yet another injury during the Club World Cup and last season saw a heavy reliance on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in midfield.
They needed help for the next campaign and they now have that in Dario Essugo and Andrey Santos, the 21-year-old Brazilian who last season enjoyed an excellent loan with their sister club Strasbourg in France.
Chelsea are considering whether they need to make a move for a central defender this month after Levi Colwill’s ACL injury
Santos’ return for the forthcoming season is a big reason why Chelsea allowed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to leave for Everton in a £25million permanent move this week.
Chelsea marked their return to action following last month’s Club World Cup triumph with a 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their penultimate pre-season outing.
In a lop-sided match at Stamford Bridge, the Blues made an early breakthrough in the first half when Estevao found the net on 18 minutes.
