Trevor Chalobah has revealed his ambitions to force his way back into the Chelsea team after struggling for regular game time so far this season.
The 23-year-old defender has made just one appearance for the Blues so far this term – coming in the 2-1 win over Leicester City last month. It seems as though Thomas Tuchel didn't fancy Chalobah at the start of the season, with new signing Kalidou Koulibaly, Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta often preferred.
Then Wesley Fofana's big-money arrival to Stamford Bridge has pushed Chalobah further down the pecking order. The 21-year-old joined in a deal worth around £70million from Leicester City and will no doubt be a firm fixture at the heart of Chelsea's defence, making it hard for the likes of Chalobah to get regular game time.
However, Chalobah sees it as a positive that the Blues now have depth in the back-line after losing Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christiansen to Barcelona in the summer. He also added that players such as Koulibaly will bring much-needed experience and will help Chalobah to improve his game.
"We want to have depth and the best players playing for the club," Chalobah said in an interview with talkSPORT. "That's what we've done.
"For us to be competing this season, we need the best players as it's going to be a long season. It's good to have these players to learn from, players with experience. So it's good having that mixture in the team."
"He [Koulibaly] is a player in my position who I have always watched," the Chelsea defender added. "I used to watch his and Thiago's [Silva's] compilations of their defending on YouTube when I was younger.
"He has been a massive player. My older brother, Nathaniel, played with him when he was on loan at Napoli. He knows him well, so it's a great addition to the team."
With Graham Potter now the new head coach at Chelsea, it's another chance for Chalobah to prove himself. It's something he's become accustomed to since breaking into the first-team last season.
Chalobah acknowledged that being patient is part of the fabric of being a Chelsea player and is prepared to do so once again. His end goal, however, was made perfectly clear.
"I feel that when the chance comes, it comes," Chalobah said. "I will always be patient because playing for a club like this is not easy, there is always going to be competition.
"That is the best thing for all the players and for me, training with the best players day in, day out. I try not to focus on the outside noise and focus what I'm doing and what I want to do this season. That is to get myself into the team and play a lot of games this season."
