Brazilian winger will get Strasbourg shuffle despite preseason showings

It was rather surprising to see Angelo Gabriel starting for Chelsea in their preseason game, given he had signed just days before.

But it seems it wasn’t indicative of any first team plans for the 18 year old Brazilian, and in fact was just a case of getting 11 players out on the pitch in that first game, before the second wave of players were up to speed.

We know that because Nizaar Kinsella, who is on the US tour, is reporting that the winger will go on loan to our new sister club Strasbourg after the tour is over.

That fits much more what we thought would be the plan with Gabriel, who is clearly talented but quite raw. He did have some brilliant flashes and an assist against Wrexham, and sparkled for a few moments when he came on as a sub against Brighton.

Ligue 1 will be a great chance for the prodigy to develop further, and this tour gives Mauricio Pochettino a good chance to check him out. This setup looks like a smart one.