Andreas Christensen looking to catch Antonio Conte's eye as Chelsea squad train in Guangzhou

Daily Mail | July 20, 2017

Set to play a first team role this season, Andreas Christensen is facing a big pre-season with Chelsea and was watched by boss Antonio Conte as the squad trained in Beijing on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old defender joined Chelsea as a youngster from Brondby but like many academy stars has spent his formative years on loan elsewhere.

The last two seasons he impressed on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach but now with John Terry gone and Kurt Zouma left out of the Far East tour party Christensen has a chance to stake a claim.

Andreas Christensen trains with the Chelsea squad at the Bird's Nest Stadium inu00a0Beijing — Andreas Christensen trains with the Chelsea squad at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing

The Dane will be hoping to challenge the likes of David Luiz for a spot in Chelsea's back line

Antonio Conte oversaw the first training session of the club's pre-season tour to China

Willianu00a0Conte oversaw the first training session of the club's tour early on Wednesday morning at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing,u00a0which began with some warm-up jogging and stretching, before the players worked on their short passes. — Willian takes shot during the session on Thursday morning ahead of their clash with Arsenal

They were then split into three separate groups – defenders, midfielders and attackers – for a keep-ball session, with the defensive players watched by Paolo Vanoli, one of two new members of Conte's backroom team.