Lucy Bronze's role, Aggie Beever-Jones' potential and six things we learned from Chelsea's pre-season U.S. tour

With Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel unlikely to be back before the New Year after suffering ACL injuries at the start of 2024, and Mayra Ramirez still getting used to the demands of the game in England, as was evident in the knocks and niggles she picked up last season, Aggie Beever-Jones is going to only become an even more important player for this Chelsea team.

The 21-year-old enjoyed her breakthrough last year, scoring 11 times in the WSL despite making just six starts, and her performances in the U.S. showed new boss Bompastor that she can continue to play a key role. The French coach gave her the opportunities to make that point, starting her in both tour games, and Beever-Jones responded. Against Gotham, the young forward was sublime, providing a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over the reigning NWSL champions. Chances were then harder to come by against Arsenal, but she still led the line well and worked hard to help the Blues to victory.

Beever-Jones is perfectly capable of making an impact from a wide role too, something she often has to do when Ramirez starts. However, she is also a fantastic option to provide depth behind the Colombian while Kerr, Fishel and, for now, Catarina Macario aren't available. It's something that will certainly please Bompastor and such versatility will only lead to her getting further opportunities as she looks to build on that breakout campaign.

Beever-Jones isn't the only young player in this Chelsea squad that looks set to receive opportunities to shine this season either. Maika Hamano is another who broke through in Hayes' final year and she was one of the Blues' best performers on this tour, her persistence in the final third leading to the winning goal against Arsenal after a lively second-half display in the win over Gotham. The forward areas are competitive in this squad, but Hamano is versatile, different to any other player at the club and growing into a consistently effective asset.

Another young player who had a strong week in the U.S. was Wieke Kaptein. The 18-year-old signed for Chelsea from Twente last summer, then spent the 2023-24 season back on loan with the Dutch club. There, she continued the remarkable development that has been on show since her first-team breakthrough at the age of 15, something which clearly hasn't gone unnoticed at her new club. Bompastor started Kaptein in both games in the U.S. and, on both occasions, she impressed with her maturity in midfield.

At Lyon, the French coach had a lot of star power to manage, but that didn't stop her from giving young players a chance. Based on this past week, that looks set to continue in her new job, which is good news for a club that has put a noticeable focus on recruiting young talent in recent windows.

Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Chelsea chose to bring in Lucy Bronze this summer, because the Blues were already well-stocked at right-back. However, her inclusion in both line-ups in the U.S. this past week suggest that the England star is going to get the starting role she desires, one that wasn't going to come at Barcelona and therefore resulted in her and the European champions being unable to agree terms on a new deal.

It's a huge win for Bronze, but may spell bad news for a team-mate. After all, do Chelsea really need three right-backs? It wouldn't be a surprise to see clubs keeping an eye on this situation as the other two options at the Blues' disposal, France international Eve Perisset and Canada star Ashley Lawrence, are both top players. They may be worth asking about, particularly Perisset, who could struggle for game time this season given her lack of versatility, especially in comparison to the flexible Lawrence.

There was no bigger negative from Chelsea's tour of the U.S. than the knee injury Erin Cuthbert picked up in the first game, against Gotham. It was an unfortunate incident, her own team-mate Guro Reiten falling on her as the pair battled for the ball with an opponent, and resulted in Cuthbert struggling to put any real weight on the impacted leg as she left the field.

The good news is that the Scotland star was walking around without crutches when Chelsea returned to action six days later, though she wasn't able to be involved. All associated with the club will hope that is a sign that the injury, for which no update has yet been issued, is not going to restrict her for long. That's because without Cuthbert, this midfield is significantly weaker.

One of the main reasons why is that Chelsea don't have anyone with a similar profile to the 26-year-old. They lose steel, grit and tenacity, but also some of the creativity that she can bring to the table - as evidenced by her through ball for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd against Gotham, which turned into a sublime assist when the Swede finished to make it 1-0.

While it feels like any remaining transfer business for the Blues will likely involve outgoings, might it be possible that they search the market for someone who can fill the void Cuthbert leaves when unavailable? Perhaps the injury news would have to be significant for that to occur, but there's no doubt that this team is weaker in the middle of the park when she isn't there.

While those possible transfer questions surrounding the right-back area and the lack of back-up for Cuthbert may well not see any movement come to fruition, it does still feel like we'll see some changes to this Chelsea squad before their season gets underway in less than four weeks' time.

There were a few notable absentees from the group that travelled to the U.S. this past week, with Jelena Cankovic one of those who was left out and has since completed a transfer elsewhere, joining former Chelsea team-mate Fran Kirby at Brighton. Brooke Aspin, who signed from Bristol City last summer before returning to the Robins on loan, didn't make the journey Stateside amid rumblings of another season elsewhere in the WSL, while some of the young stars who did join the tour are also likely to secure loans - such as Lucy Watson, Lexi Potter and Charlotte Wardlaw.

When Chelsea signed Bronze in mid-July, it was possible to draft up three entirely different starting XIs from the Blues' senior squad - with no players out of position. Since then, Bompastor and her staff have worked to thin things out and they will be keen to ensure that the last touches are put on this transfer window in the time that remains.

That said, it's unlikely that any huge names come through the door at Stamford Bridge now as this is already a star-studded group, especially in the forward areas. What will be most exciting for Chelsea fans off the back of this U.S. tour is that they looked electric against Gotham, the reigning NWSL champions, and solid against Arsenal, who fielded a line-up much closer to their first-choice, without some significant members of the team.

Lauren James only played 45 minutes across these two games, Ramirez played even fewer after featuring for Colombia at the Olympics and Macario is still to come back in the attack, as she recovers from the injury that ruled her out of the USWNT's success at Paris 2024.

There is still almost a month until Chelsea's season begins, too, meaning there is plenty of time to get everyone together, to play friendlies as a whole group and just generally have this squad, under new coach Bompastor, ready for the 2024-25 season. In the meantime, this tour was a nice tune-up and an impressive first glimpse at a team - and especially an attack - that is only going to become more dangerous, even more so when considering the mid-season boosts that both Kerr and Fishel will provide.