Chelsea face Western Sydney Wanderers in the Sydney Super Cup for their first pre-season friendly under new manager Xabi Alonso. The Blues finished 10th last season and have signed Marco Palestra, Morgan Rogers, Emmanuel Emegha and Geovany Quenda. Alonso replaced Liam Rosenior, who was sacked in April after five consecutive defeats without scoring.
Goalkeepers and defenders
Captain Lawrence Thomas, 34, is the first-choice goalkeeper. He joined from Sønderjyske in 2022 after an unsuccessful trial at Coventry in 2010. Left-back Alex Gersbach, who has six Australia caps, has played for Rosenborg, NAC Breda, AGF, Grenoble and Colorado Rapids.
Goalkeeper Jordan Holmes, born in Sydney, came through Bournemouth's academy and had loan spells at Weymouth, Eastbourne Borough, St Mirren and Ebbsfleet before returning to Australia in 2021. German Ferreyra, a 30-year-old defender, is a new signing from Melbourne City who previously played in the Russian second tier and represented Argentina at youth level.
Midfielders and forwards
Dylan Scicluna, 22, is a central midfielder who came through Wolves' academy and has youth caps for Malta. Hiroshi Ibusuki, 35, is a former Sevilla wonderkid standing 6'5". He scored 28 goals in 71 appearances for Adelaide United and 10 in 25 for Western United, having netted 12 in 20 for Real Zaragoza B and 20 in 32 for Sevilla B.
Ryan Fraser, the Scotland winger formerly of Newcastle and Bournemouth, moved to Australia in January after a fallout with Eddie Howe. Brandon Borrello, 31, is an Australian winger with 16 caps who played for Kaiserslautern, Freiburg, Dusseldorf and Dynamo Dresden before returning to Australia in 2022.
