As Jose Mourinho has promised to deliver talent for the English National team by developing his youngsters, we look at which of the bunch of youngsters at Chelsea are likely to be special talents in the future. Chelsea have a huge reservoir of talents, and a very strong academy, but the first team has barely used any young player because of the club’s quest for trophies and competing at the highest level. Yet, with Mourinho coming in for long term, we can expect some good things from Chelsea’s English youngsters for the future.
Dominic Solanke
The 16 year old striker born on September 14, 1997 is a very exciting and talented youngster. He is the first among the three ‘kids’ Jose Mourinho has planned to retain in the team, and allow them to train with the seniors. Solanke is a versatile striker who can operate in the wings if need comes. He has pace, technique and finishing for a 16 year old youngster, and training with the Chelsea team will be a huge learning opportunity for him.
Watch Solanke’s late brace, which helped Chelsea win the Youth FA Cup
Isaiah Brown
Born on 7th January, 1997, 17 year old Brown is a versatile attacking player with a very high flair quotient. He can play in the wide forward region as well as in attacking midfield as he is blessed with natural quick feet, vision and pace. That flair is not so easily found in the young players, as Brown simply seems to know what he’s doing on the pitch at such a young age. Brown would also be training with the seniors and that would be a very important stage in his career to understand the expectations and style of working in Chelsea.
Lewis Baker
19 year old Baker is already a household name among Chelsea fans with his fireworks in the youth leagues. He has been kept with the first team as Mourinho plans to train him with the other two. The prospect is bright for Baker as he has the ability to dominate the midfield. He is blessed with vision, passing and shooting skills. He has an incredible 9 goals in 14 appearances for England U19 and expect him to feature in some cup games this season.
Final Verdict:
If Chelsea do manage to get the best out of these youngsters, it would be excellent for the club as well as England. England seems to be struggling to bring through enough talented and world class youth products from their league. The scarcity has meant that whenever there is an England player in the league, big clubs like Man Utd and Liverpool are ready to spend heavy on him. Chelsea would like to be a contributor to the national team more in the future and take responsibility of developing the youngsters and take steps into becoming a complete football club.