There's a player in the Chelsea ranks that desperately needs to try and replicate last year's success during pre-season when it comes to this summer.

The Chelsea squad has jetted to the United States this week to begin their pre-season tour. Blues head coach Enzo Maresca has a 28-man travelling party to select from for five friendly matches in the US.

Chelsea's Djordje Petrovic is absent from pre-season because the goalkeeper has a "minor injury", it's been claimed by journalist Nizaar Kinsella on X.

The Blues face Wrexham, Celtic, Club America, Manchester City and Real Madrid during the next couple of weeks across various parts of the United States.

The young attacking midfielder has been included on the club's pre-season trip to the US, where he'll be looking to grab the attention of the new head coach. Interestingly, he did very well in a similar position just 12 months ago.

Chukwuemeka had a fantastic pre-season tour in the summer of 2023 with Chelsea. This was at a time when the squad was trying to impress Mauricio Pochettino, who had just arrived as the club's new manager.

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Chelsea played Wrexham, Brighton, Newcastle United, Fulham and Borussia Dortmund in last summer's schedule. For Chukwuemeka, he played his way into Pochettino's good books. He actually started four out of five games during last year's pre-season, providing two assists alongside several eye-catching performances.

As a result, the PS20m playmaker (Sky Sports) was in the Chelsea starting XI for the opening day of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign. Unfortunately, injuries went on and wrecked most of last season for him.

It still goes to show that pre-season can be a great springboard into a new term if used correctly.

Carney Chukwuemeka has serious competition for his spot If Chukwuemeka wants to nail down a place as Chelsea's main attacking midfielder, he's surely going to have to play out of his skin in pre-season.

The Athletic has claimed that Chelsea do value Chukwuemeka extremely highly. In fact, they think his valuation has gone up in the last couple of years.

However, the reality is that the English youngster may be competing against the likes of Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku for a starting position in the No 10 role.

It feels like Chukwuemeka could fall into the position of a squad player if he has a quiet summer. We've seen before that he can raise his game and impress during pre-season, though. Now feels like the perfect time to do just that under Maresca's watch.