Two Chelsea players to watch out for in 2024

The two players I believe will make 2024 their year

2023 was by some distance Chelsea’s most disappointing year in living memory for the majority of Blues fans. 

We faced huge struggles on the pitch, facing a major injury crisis and were unable to pick up points throughout the calendar year. 

Off the pitch, we acquired heaps of young talent that we all know will become huge players for us in the future. 

That, paired with the encouraging December we had where we advanced to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and didn’t lose a game at Stamford Bridge has meant there is a bit of optimism around the fanbase for once. 

We can only hope that our decent form continues into the new year, especially as we have many winnable fixtures on the horizon. 

Many players will look to make 2024 their year, but I believe there are two players who will surprise everyone and become household names by the end of 2024.

The first player who I think will have a huge year is Carney Chukwuemeka. That won’t surprise a lot of Chelsea fans as we all know how good he is but I genuinely believe that come the end of the year, he will be a big name in football. 

His injury at the start of the campaign was an absolute hammer blow. He was in fine form in pre-season and was undoubtedly a key player for Mauricio Pochettino. The fact he seriously injured his knee straight after opening his Chelsea account in world-class fashion summed up 2023. 

He’s now back in training and hopefully, we can see him feature soon and re-start the season in the form he has shown us previously. I also wouldn’t write him off for a potential place in England’s Euro 2024 squad. 

It’s as blatant as anything that England’s midfield has a couple of spaces up for grabs and I believe that if things go well and he stays healthy, Carney could grab one of those spots, I also think former blue Ross Barkley should be in with a shout. 

I certainly believe that he will nail down his starting spot at Chelsea again as he did at the start of the season and that he will get a fair few goal contributions from midfield. 

The response to the training pictures released yesterday on the club’s website that showed Carney involved just speaks volumes about how highly rated he is amongst Chelsea fans.

Hopefully, we can look back on this next year and be able to say that 2024 was the year that Carney Chukwuemeka announced himself on the world stage. 

The other player I believe Chelsea fans should look out for in 2024 is Angelo Gabriel. 

I understand this is a much more out-there shout than Carney but there is just something about Angelo that I love. I think he has genuine superstar potential. 

Sometimes a player just surprises you and that’s exactly what he did when I first saw him play for us over in America in pre-season. 

I wasn’t particularly excited when we signed him as I just cynically assume that most of the young players we sign are just going to be loaned out and then sold for profit.

He ended up getting some decent minutes in pre-season and I just loved what I saw. 

That earned him a loan move to Strasbourg where I decided to keep an eye on him and watch him on TV when I could (Strasbourg are on TV a surprising amount).

He’s not the most regular starter but so often he comes on and makes things happen. He shows these little moments of star quality and he has won Ligue 1 Young Player of the Month this season too. 

Whilst I admit it’s a long shot to think he plays for Chelsea in 2024 as he’ll likely be lined up for another loan, there is a part of that thinks he could impress in our next pre-season tour and be deemed good enough for a role in the squad. 

We really need Europe next season in some capacity as it would allow young fringe players to get good minutes. 

I have high hopes for Angelo in 2024 whether that be at Chelsea or elsewhere (hopefully it’s at Chelsea). 

I have to quickly mention Romeo Lavia as a player to look out for in 2024 as his Chelsea career has been bitterly unlucky so far. He spent five months working his way back to full fitness and got a completely new injury after just 30 minutes of football. 

We await news on his latest injury but we’re all hoping he will be ok and that he will have a successful and healthy 2024. 

By Will Reyner