Pre-season is now underway, with the majority of the squad back at Cobham and getting hit with double sessions already. It’s time to work work work work once again.
There are a few new faces at the club — though not Antonio Rudiger, who’s been granted a few extra days’ rest after his exertions at the Confederations Cup with Germany — including backup goalkeeper Wilfredo Caballero, who signed on a free transfer after his contract with Manchester City expired. Like his predecessor Asmir Begovic, Caballero will be wearing shirt no.1, Chelsea confirmed today.
Caballero becomes just the fifth player to be officially assigned that number at Chelsea since the inception of shirt numbers in the Premier League in 1993. Previous owners included Petr Cech, Ed de Goey, Dmitri Kharine, and the aforementioned Begovic.
Chelsea also confirmed something we already knew, that Charly Musonda Jr will be wearing Eden Hazard’s old no.17 this season, more or less confirming that he’s set to stay with the first-team this season. Musonda counts as an U21 player this season and will count as homegrown after that, which should continue to help his first-team prospects. The Premier League has given permission to Charly to use ‘Musonda Jr’ on his shirt so as to avoid any confusion with his father.