Alfie Gilchrist, a junior player for Chelsea, has just been spotted in photos of first team practice as players start to return from international service.
The 19-year-old is seen competing with some of the more seasoned members of the Blues squad in photos posted by the club on the 5th Stand app.
Gilchrist has been a part of Chelsea’s youth system for a long time, although he has yet to make his senior team debut.
Instead, he has played almost all of this season’s minutes at Premier League 2, where he is a regular.
He had the chance to demonstrate to new manager Mauricio Pochettino throughout the preseason what he is capable of doing when given the opportunity to represent the first team.
He performed well in his cameo appearances at the time, but the depth at center defense made it exceedingly unlikely that he would get any action this year.
Gilchrist has been sighted in training.
However, as far as the first team is concerned, injuries have undoubtedly been a factor, and that position in particular has been severely impacted.
![Chelsea's New Gem: Teenager Gears Up for First Team Training Ahead of Arsenal Battle 2 newFile 2](https://i0.wp.com/static.standard.co.uk/2023/07/22/19/newFile-2.jpg?resize=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
Wesley Fofana has already been ruled out for the season, and Benoit Badiashile has yet to play this year due to personal issues.
Now that Axel Disasi is anticipated to be unavailable for the Arsenal game this weekend, his name may have been added to that increasing list.
This could be the reason Gilchrist has been participating in the initial team training sessions this week.
He was a member of the squad this week, therefore he might be selected on the bench when the Blues resume domestic play on Saturday.