The teams are being announced for football section of the Olympic Games, with midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu the first Chelsea player to have got the call up and accepted.
The midfielder has been asked to join Thierry Henry’s group of young French stars to play in Paris this summer. That will come on the back of the prestigious Toulon tournament in the South of France earlier in the summer, with Ugochukwu among a decent group of players doing the double like that.
Ugochukwu could be a key player for his country in both tournaments, and manager Henry is clearly a big fan of his. It certainly gives us something to watch out for in the tournament – so far he’s the only Chelsea player we know will be attending.
Still just 20, the midfielder has been a regular for France’s youth teams from U18 to U21, and could cap that off with a medal here.
👨🎨 Une 𝙥𝙧𝙚́-𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚 à 2️⃣5️⃣ noms 📋
Découvrez les joueurs appelés par Thierry Henry pour préparer les 𝙅𝙚𝙪𝙭 🇫🇷👊#BleuCollectif pic.twitter.com/qp1YK3QEC8
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 3, 2024
A decision that makes sense
We’re not sure what we make of this decision – on the one hand we want as many players as possible present from the very first day of preseason to work with the new manager.
On the other hand, Ugochukwu played very little football this season just gone thanks to injury, and playing some extra games through the summer might actually be useful in terms of getting him back up to speed ahead of the new season, as well as giving him some match practice which he would also be lacking.
It would be a different matter if he was a guaranteed starter and a lynchpin of the team, But in fact he’s going to be a rotation option, so he can take a little more time to get to learn Maresca’s system with the season underway. Missing a few weeks of preseason, in his case, looks justifiable.
