Chelsea Development Squad plays MLS Next Pro Invitational in Salt Lake City

The Chelsea men’s first team flies out of America today, the women’s first team flies out next month and it turns out the (men’s) development team is coming to America too, and very soon.

The Blues will be one of two Premier League 2 (PL2) entrants in the inaugural MLS Next Pro Invitational, to be held later this month, July 19-27, in and around Salt Lake City. Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 is the other PL2 team to fly past. The development teams from Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and the Colorado Rapids, part of this new MLS Next Pro Reserve League (Third Tier) launched this year, will complete the field for the five-team, four-game pseudo- Competition.

Games will be held at the Rio Tinto in Sandy, UT and Zions Bank in Herriman, UT. They will also be streamed live on the MLS Next Pro official website.

In related news, James Simmonds has returned to Chelsea from coaching loan at Sogndal and will support new Under-21 boss Mark Robinson for the upcoming season. Ed Brand remains U18 head coach, now assisted by Jimmy Smith, with Andy Ross moving to Sogndal instead.

Chelsea’s full schedule at the MLS Next Pro Invitational is as follows:

• Tuesday 19 July: Real Monarchs vs Chelsea U21 – Rio Tinto, 9:30pm EDT / 2:30am BST (next day)
• Thursday, July 21: Chelsea U21s vs Wolves U21s (Zions Bank Stadium, 10:15pm EDT / 3:15am BST (next day)
• Saturday, July 23: Toronto FC II vs Chelsea U21 (Zions Bank Stadium, 10:45pm EDT / 3:45am BST (next day)