Mauricio Pochettino experimented with Christopher Nkunku in a different role and bloodied a new midfield partnership as Chelsea won the Premier League Summer Series.
The Blues have been excellent throughout pre-season under their new manager, and secured silverware on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Fulham in Washington DC.
Nkunku and Thiago Silva’s first-half goals beat Marco Silva’s side, who were poor across the full 90 minutes in the United States capital.
Versatile Nkunku impressing across the board
Nkunku has excelled in all three roles he has been asked to play in pre-season.
The 25-year-old played up front in the last three matches but was used both on the left wing and as a no10 against Fulham.
In his first minutes on the wing, Nkunku tapped in his third pre-season goal in four matches.
There’s no doubt he will be prominent under Mauricio Pochettino but, after excelling wherever he has played, he will likely pop up in numerous positions next season.
Thiago Silva’s dominance
Silva headed in Ben Chilwell’s corner to open the scoring in an exceptional first-half performance.
He, like the entire backline, came off at half-time but still made an impression both defensively and in possession to give teenage goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina a quiet debut.
Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Monaco defender Axel Disasi for £39million after Wesley Fofana’s injury. Disasi goes directly up against Silva for a starting spot next season but it will be a daunting task to take the legendary defender’s spot.
A first look at the Enzo-Andrey pivot
Enzo Fernandez and Andrey Santos started together as two no6s in Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time.
The pair controlled Fulham over the first 45 minutes which helped Chelsea to dominate possession and avoid counterattacks from Marco Silva’s side.
They now look well placed to start together against Liverpool on August 13 with little progress having been made to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
