Chelsea pre-season report: Who has impressed? What have we learned about Xabi Alonso after six friendlies?

Chelsea completed their pre-season schedule with a 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

That ensured that Xabi Alonso concluded a run of six friendlies with three victories, one draw and two defeats ahead of the Premier League opener at Fulham.

A thrilling 6-4 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers was followed by a 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur four days later.

However, Alonso oversaw a second successive setback four days later as Juventus recorded a 1-0 win over the Blues in Hong Kong.

On a more positive note, the Blues cruised to a 3-0 win against AC Milan, before a entirely-different XI could only draw 3-3 with Johor Darul Ta-zim.

Here, Sports Mole looks at who has impressed for Chelsea, and what the Spaniard can take from the six matches.

Who has impressed for Chelsea during pre-season?

With seven goals from his five appearances, Joao Pedro was undoubtedly the star of Chelsea's pre-season campaign.

A hat-trick was posted in the comeback win over Western Sydney Wanderers, before the Brazil international was clinical around the box in the triumphs over AC Milan and Real Sociedad.

New defender Marco Palestra has featured heavily in pre-season, there being every sign that the Italian will become a first-choice pick regardless of the formation that Alonso goes for.

Estevao Willian took his goal well against Spurs and generally impressed even when his appearances came a bit more fleeting as pre-season progressed, while Romeo Lavia got over what Alonso described as a "mental block" to complete 90 minutes for the first time in three years at Chelsea.

Sixteen-year-old Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli deserves plenty of praise for how he has slotted into the engine room across the Australia and Asia tour, particularly against Italian powerhouses Juventus.

What have we learned about Xabi Alonso and Chelsea in pre-season?

Alonso has said on several occasions that it does not matter if he played with a back three or four, but the Spaniard used the six matches to try both options.

Even in defeat, positives could be taken from using a back four against Spurs and Juventus, but the standout performance was with a 3-4-2-1 formation versus AC Milan.

The same tactics was used against Real Sociedad in what was a clear indication that Chelsea will use that setup against Fulham on August 24.

Alonso was willing to assess as many of the club's prospects as possible. His hand may have been forced to a certain extent, but BlueCo will want to make the most of having one of the world's best academies in the short and long term.

As many as nine players who have never started a senior game for Chelsea made an appearance versus Western Sydney Wanderers.

Although the experience that Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck will bring could prove vital to the development of this group, giving such opportunities to the youngsters is only going to benefit them in the long term.

Alonso also got a first look at Nicolas Jackson and the returning Mykhaylo Mudryk. There were enough positives from Jackson's performances to suggest that he could have a future at Chelsea, but both of these attackers were not selected for the final fixture against Real Sociedad.