Mateo Kovacic is likely to make his Chelsea debut off the bench when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Croatia midfielder was not involved in last weekend’s 3-0 win at Huddersfield Town after signing on loan from Real Madrid on deadline day.
Cesc Fabregas also sat out the opening weekend and will miss the Arsenal match with a minor, “unusual” injury close to his knee.
His unavailability coupled with the midweek loan departure of Tiemoue Bakayoko to AC Milan means Maurizio Sarri is set to call on Kovacic.
“In this moment he has to work. I think he’s not ready now for 90 minutes, but maybe tomorrow for 30 minutes he could be used.
“I think he can play in any of the three positions in midfield. He’s a very good offensive player, but he has improved in the defensive phase in the last two years in Madrid.
Alvaro Morata appears set to hold his place despite an underwhelming display against Huddersfield.
The striker, who netted 11 league goals last season, has the backing of his head coach to find form.
“I am not worried about Morata. Morata is a very great player,” Sarri said. “I think that, in this moment, he needs only to gain confidence.
“He needs to score as all the strikers in the world do. He needs to gain confidence, but he’s improving so I’m not really worried about him.”
Kovačić has been described as a great technician with excellent dribbling abilities. He is considered to be a versatile midfielder, having played in different midfield positions. He started off as an attacking midfielder at Dinamo Zagreb, but he transformed his game at Inter where he was deployed out wide and also as a central midfielder, functioning as a deep-lying playmaker, while being coached by Andrea Stramaccioni.
One of his trademarks is dropping deep to receive the ball and then driving forward, often performing his slalom runs. Under the coach, Walter Mazzarri, he was often used in a more advanced position. Former manager Giovanni Trapattoni once claimed that Kovačić knows how to really reach the ball from deep and drive up the pitch like a ‘raging bull’. Proven by his pass completion percentages, Kovačić is known for distributing the ball up the pitch.