3 Chelsea Players to Watch out for in Pre-Season

Change is in the air at Chelsea.

The Blues start back for pre-season training on July 11, and there is a feeling of positivity surrounding the club. Not only will new manager Antonio Conte be taking training for the first time at Cobham, but there will be some new faces arriving over the course of the summer.

Striker Michy Batshuayi has already signed from Marseille, while we're expecting Conte to add more reinforcements in areas where they are needed most—notably central midfield and in defence.

The Italian has five weeks to get his team ready for the start of the new campaign, when they will face West Ham United on August 15.

Despite being in the doldrums after a disappointing 12 months, Chelsea fans are beginning to feel more positive about what lies ahead. Bleacher Report looks at three players who should whet the appetite further in pre-season.

Michy Batshuayi

His is the name on the tip of every Chelsea fan's tongue right now. Batshuayi is the first signing of the Conte regime, and on sheer potential alone, he has Blues supporters itching to watch him in action.

The fact we're still not sure of what role Batshuayi will play is only adding to the sense of intrigue. Will he be a substitute to support Diego Costa and another striker? Or has Conte invested over £30 million to make him an instant first-choice to give Chelsea more presence up front?

One thing that is for certain is Chelsea's attack already has a more exciting feel about it. Adding Batshuayi into the equation hints at more dynamism among the strikers, where last season Chelsea fans were left frustrated with what they saw.

The loan moves for Radamel Falcao and Alexandre Pato were massive failures—they scored a combined two goals between them—and seemed more regressive than anything. Both are players who are trading on their past glories, whereas Chelsea's focus needed to be on the future and where the club is headed.

"

New Chelsea signing Michy Batshuayi knows how to dab. #CFC #EPLpic.twitter.com/fdCRlHN64e

— Bet9ja (@myBet9ja) July 7, 2016"

Batshuayi is largely unproven. He's still young and, at 22 years old, is relatively raw. His two years with Marseille were key to his development, but with just seven international caps to his name, it's clear he has much more to do in order to become a bigger threat.

Batshuayi may well be behind his peers in that regard, yet with everything sitting ahead of him in his career, there's a sense it's Chelsea who will be the beneficiaries of all that he has to offer.

Now Blues fans just want to see him in action. They'll have to wait, of course, while the Belgian enjoys a post-Euro 2016 break. He will not join up with his new team-mates until the U.S. leg of their pre-season tour later in July.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

While Batshuayi's recent arrival has got Chelsea fans making plenty of noise about him, it's the expected shift in formation and system from Conte that will have supporters wondering what to expect from Loftus-Cheek in 2016/17.

Pre-season is going to be a big indicator for what we can expect in that regard. What helps Loftus-Cheek's case with the new manager is that a lot of the more senior players will be missing for the first couple of weeks, thus putting the spotlight firmly on him.

Now, we've been here before. The discussion where Loftus-Cheek is concerned has been about his best position and how he doesn't suit the No. 10 role former managers Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink each gave him.

Coming through the Chelsea academy, he was predominantly deployed in a deeper role. Loftus-Cheek used his impressive physical attributes to bulldoze through midfield and overpower opponents at times, and he hasn't been able to transfer that to the senior game.

Whether it be a 3-5-2 or 4-2-4, the expectation is that Loftus-Cheek has the attributes to become a key player for Conte. They're both systems that allow him to slot into a more natural midfield role, playing to his strengths.

Chelsea fans are eager for the club to unearth another gem like they did John Terry almost 20 years ago. There's a real hunger for more academy stars to come through and establish themselves; it just needs one player to show his value for the others to get their break.

Loftus-Cheek has long been tipped as the man to bring about that change. He needs a good pre-season now to accelerate his position in Conte's side.

Kenedy

BEN STANSALL/Getty Images

The trend here is that we're looking more to Chelsea's youngsters as the ones to watch this summer. After Batshuayi and Loftus-Cheek, Kenedy will be another to keep an eye out for.

The reason is that he may well have been a Mourinho signing, but Kenedy looks to be more of a Conte player. He was deployed at left-back and the left side of attacking midfield last term, impressing at times but not always looking comfortable.

If Conte is going to insist on using wing-backs, Kenedy may well be the man to fill in that position for Chelsea. Baba Rahman will have something to say about that, yet Kenedy's physique and all-round game hints at him being more suitable.

He works hard on the flanks and offers everything a wing-back must: He can defend and is crucially a threat on the break and in the final third.

What Kenedy isn't is a left-back. His instincts are focused more on getting forward, which suits that wing-back ideal.

After a promising first 12 months in English football, he needs to start making a step up to become a more regular fixture in Chelsea's first team. With a clean slate—not to mention a new system—under a new manager, this pre-season could be the making of Kenedy.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes