Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino admits some of the club’s young players could leave the club this summer with decisions soon to be made on their futures.
Pochettino named a very young side to face Wrexham in the Blues’ 5-0 pre-season friendly win in the USA, which included Cesare Casadei, Andrey Santos, Ian Maatsen, Carney Chukwuemeka and others.
And the new Chelsea boss was impressed by many of the club’s young talents during the victory, though says decisions will soon be made on who will remain at the club.
“Yes, too many players we need to assess and analyse to see what happens with them for the season,” Pochettino said when asked if many of the youngsters are playing for their Chelsea futures.
“There are many decisions we need to take, but it’s good to have the opportunity to see all these guys, young guys that can show their quality.
“We talked before, I think it’s important for them and important for us to have a real assessment and for sure, all have quality, they only need time and space to show that they can compete for a place in this football club.
“I’m happy with them all, it’s always difficult the first game with 50,000 people or more, always it’s difficult for them.
“The first game in the pre-season, the condition, you can feel it was hot, and I’m happy.
“We’ll see what goes on in the next few weeks and then we’ll come back to England and decide the future of these young players.
“Maybe they have a future here or maybe sometimes, they cannot be part of the squad but have great potential for the future of the club.”
21-year-old Maatsen, who spent last season on loan at Burnley in the Championship, particularly impressed by scoring twice in the pre-season victory.
And despite reports linking him with a permanent move elsewhere, he insists he would like to remain at the Blues.
“We had some conversations but at the moment I’m just enjoying being here, enjoying the moment with the boys and training hard and getting fit,” Maatsen said.
“When the season starts we will see where my future is.
“I just have to keep doing my thing to show the people what I’m capable of and just bring that in training and on the pitch.
“I try to do my best, it’s all I can do. Of course I want to stay.
“If I prove that every day in training and work hard in the matches, they’ll decide. Hopefully I can stay here.”
