TREVOH CHALOBAH impressed again as he played 120 minutes of Chelsea’s penalty shootout win in the Super Cup.
The versatile 22-year-old is the younger brother of former Chelsea player Nathaniel.
And he may well have now forced himself into Thomas Tuchel’s thinking after yet another impressive display in the Blues’ back three.
The 22-year-old defender has impressed massively in pre-season, with standout performances against Bournemouth, Arsenal, Tottenham and now Villarreal.
He has caught the eye of manager Tuchel – but competition for places has never been stronger at Stamford Bridge.
Who is Trevoh Chalobah?
The academy graduate was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1999.
He joined older brother Nathaniel at Cobham aged just eight and stayed in the system until signing his first professional contract in 2018.
Primarily playing at right or centre-back, he won the Uefa Youth League and FA youth Cup alongside Mason Mount as a teenager.
He played at every level for England from Under-16 to U21 level and was part of the U19 team that won the European Championships in 2017.
In his first season after going pro in 2017-18, Chalobah was named on the bench numerous times – including in the FA Cup final win against Manchester United.
He has since been on three successful loan spells at Ipswich Town, Huddersfield Town and with FC Lorient in Ligue 1 last season.
The defensive midfielder made 29 appearances for Lorient last season, scoring two and setting up two.
And even graced the pitch with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar when Lorient pulled off a shock 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in January.
The game against Villarreal was his competitive debut for Chelsea.
Will he play a role for Chelsea’s first-team this season?
Before the game it looked like a certainty that Chalobah would be spending the season out on loan – with Valencia reported to have a keen interest.
A decision on his future likely to be made within the next week, but his pre-season performances may well have convinced Tuchel to keep him around.
Tuchel has already told the Chelsea hierarchy not to sell him and speaking after the win, the German manager said: “He played well against Bournemouth, Arsenal and Tottenham.
“We wanted guys on the field who could play 90 mins. He was one of the first in training, physically strong and deserved to play.
“It’s quite impressive. He forced his way into our thinking.
“Let’s see how it goes, he forced his way into our thinking. We still have some days to decide [his future].”
If he is loaned out, he won’t be short of suitors.
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The problem, as Tuchel revealed before the game, is Chelsea have a wealth of options and game time may be limited.
Toni Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma would all definitely be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Right-backs Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James both played in the back three last season and may well be trusted more if it comes to it.
Chelsea also continue to be linked with a big-money move for Sevilla star Jules Kounde
Read our live match blog for Chelsea vs Villarreal for all the latest goals and updates
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
