Chelsea's Pre-Season Success: Emegha and Gittens Shine

Jamie Gittens kept his pre-season surge rolling and Emmanuel Emegha struck again as Chelsea eased past League One side Bromley 3-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Thursday, but Xabi Alonso’s bright start came with an early jolt of concern.

Emegha, the summer arrival from Strasbourg, was on the scoresheet along with Gittens and Joao Pedro as Chelsea backed up last weekend’s 3-1 win over Crawley at Cobham. Two games, two wins, goals flowing, patterns emerging. Alonso has not wasted time stamping authority on his new squad.

The mood dipped, though, when Emegha appeared to suffer a hamstring problem. The striker, who had begun pre-season as if determined to rip up the club’s attacking hierarchy, did not make the initial 27-man travelling party for the flight to Australia on Friday. For a player who needed every minute he could get, it is a brutal pause.

Emegha hits the ground running – then hits a setback

Chelsea knew exactly what they were getting from Emegha. Twenty-six goals in 65 Ligue 1 appearances for Strasbourg, captaincy handed to him last July, and a reputation as a powerful, penalty-box forward with room to grow. The plan had been long-term: his move to Stamford Bridge was originally announced for ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Circumstances changed. So did the timeline. Now he is here, and with Joao Pedro firmly installed as Chelsea’s first-choice striker, Emegha’s brief was clear: impress immediately or accept a supporting role.

He responded with goals in back-to-back friendlies, the kind of sharp, instinctive finishing that forces a manager to think twice. Then came the reported hamstring issue against Bromley, and with it the decision to keep him off the plane to Australia. For Alonso, it is a note of frustration amid an otherwise smooth opening fortnight. For Emegha, it stalls momentum just as he had begun to build a compelling case.

He was not the only new face left behind. Geovany Quenda also missed out on the touring squad, understood to be managing a minor problem that the club do not consider serious.

Gittens reminds Chelsea what he can be

If Emegha’s start has been eye-catching, Gittens’ has been quietly significant. Last season was a grind for the winger: stop-start, disrupted by injuries, rhythm never truly found. This summer already feels different.

Another goal against Bromley underlined his sharpness in the final third. Direct running, cleaner decision-making, a willingness to attack defenders rather than simply recycle the ball – all of it has arrived at a useful moment as competition for wide positions intensifies.

That battle is complicated. Pedro Neto and Gittens both sit in a strange limbo, their futures at Stamford Bridge clouded by the club’s strong interest in Bayer Leverkusen teenager Kerim Alajbegovic. The message is blunt: if Chelsea move decisively for the Bosnia and Herzegovina international, someone has to make way.

Standard Sport understands Chelsea would have to consider a sale of Neto or sanction a loan for Gittens to create space for Alajbegovic. It is the hard edge of squad building in an era of tight lists and tighter balance sheets.

Gittens, though, has chosen the only response available to him: perform. His early pre-season form is a pointed reminder of his value, particularly with Rogers on an extended break after the World Cup with England. Every goal, every assertive display, nudges Alonso’s thinking and makes any decision to move him on that little bit more awkward.

Neto on the market – but only at the right price

Neto’s situation is more nuanced. Chelsea are not actively touting the Portugal winger around and have no immediate plans to push him towards the exit. Yet there is a clear line: serious offers will be heard.

Fresh from his own World Cup workload, Neto is also on a break and has not yet entered the pre-season picture. When he returns, he will walk into a wide department that is both crowded and unsettled, with Gittens resurgent, Alajbegovic heavily admired and Alonso keen to refine the profile of his attacking options.

For now, the story of Chelsea’s summer belongs to those actually on the pitch. Two friendlies, two wins, a manager bedding in his ideas, teenagers such as Landon Emenalo, Reggie Walsh and Reggie Watson earning minutes and glimpses of the level required.

The squad flies to Australia with confidence, a new identity starting to take shape – but also with questions. Can Emegha’s promising start survive an early injury check? Can Gittens turn a strong July into a permanent place in Alonso’s plans? And when the real football begins, who will still be here to answer them?