Chelsea files: Academy star, 16, leaves Xabi Alonso impressed and Robert Sanchez’s awkward pre-season reunion

JET LAG has been a huge consideration as Chelsea embark on their mammoth tour of Australia and Asia. Ahead of their flight to Sydney, via Sri Lanka, from London, the Blues sports science department pulled out all the stops to help players and staff survive the journey. Xabi Alonso is learning about his new squad on their pre-season tour Credit: Getty Robert Sanchez got himself caught up in an awkward reunion Credit: Getty All of Chelsea‘s travelling party were provided with a masterplan to beat jet leg from the second they boarded their flight at London Gatwick. Passengers were immediately placed on Sydney time on boarding, with dinner served shortly after departure despite taking off on Friday morning. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! The instructions were to get to sleep as quickly as possible on the first leg of the flight, before players were allowed to disembark their flight at Sri Lanka for a stretching session, though only as far as across the jet bridge and into the gate. While some will have struggled, the plan clearly worked with some players reporting sleeping 10 hours on their first night after landing on the other side of the world. AUSSIE RULES XABI ALONSO was surprised to find out that Chelsea had their own Aussie connection in the squad when touching down. The Blues named 16-year-old Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli as part of their travelling squad for their pre-season tour, which begins in the city where he was born. A midfielder, Nicoll-Jazuli was born in Sydney to an Australian mother and a Sudanese father, but spent most of his childhood in England and represents the Three Lions at youth level. Both Alonso and senior teammates have been impressed with what they have seen from the youngster, who can represent five nations (Australia, Chad, England, France and Sudan) at international level, in training so far. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli has impressed the new Blues boss Credit: Getty Nicoll-Jazuli has already agreed scholarship terms with Chelsea ahead of his 17th birthday next January. It will be a special moment should the midfielder get a chance to play in the city of his birth, but anyone watching on from Football Australia will only have half-hearted interest. Despite having an international claim to the academy ace, figures within the Socceroos governing body know there is little chance of convincing him to pick a green and gold shirt over either England or France. Asked about Nicoll-Jazuli, Alonso said: “He has a great dynamism, he has quality, very complete player. He can pass short, he can dribble in the middle, so he has made a good impression so far. “He’s a talent that we need to help, we need to develop because he has special qualities that you don’t see that often from a 16-year-old guy.” SEA YOU AGAIN THERE was a rather awkward note in the air when Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was reunited with his former boss Roberto De Zerbi on the Sydney shoreline. In the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sanchez, along with Blues manager Xabi Alonso was presented with De Zerbi and Spurs defender Micky van de Ven to mark the start of the Sydney Super Cup pre-season tournament. Organisers Down Under can probably be forgiven for not twigging that, while Sanchez was at Brighton, he was effectively demoted from first choice to third by the Italian manager. Hardly a happy reunion. Roberto De Zerbi, (third from left) and Sanchez (fourth from right) reunited in Australia Credit: Fox Sports Danny Welbeck could still join Chelsea for their tour Credit: Reuters NEW BLUES CHELSEA are anticipating that a few more players will be added to their tour squad when they land in Hong Kong this weekend. Nicolas Jackson was slated to be one of those joining up, though his future now looks increasingly uncertain thanks to a veteran Brighton striker. Danny Welbeck‘s pending arrival – and it has not been ruled out that the former England man could join the squad in Asia if things move quickly enough – has pushed Jackson closer to the exit door. Aston Villa have opened talks over a £65million deal and the Senegal international, who spent last season on loan at Bayern Munich, is now expected to depart. The same can be said for Spanish forward Marc Guiu, while Liam Delap‘s future is increasingly in doubt. Comment now