Sometimes, Chelsea’s class of first-year scholars come into their new full-time jobs a little inexperienced. Take last year’s nine-strong cohort, for example; Kiano Dyer and Ollie Harrison had effectively played a full season of youth team football as Under-16s (Harrison at Newcastle before moving down South) but, of the other seven newcomers to Hassan Sulaiman’s group, only Frankie Runham had really even flirted with a breakthrough, and half of them didn’t make a debut until this past campaign.
That’s perfectly normal too, but it’s not the case for the Class of 2024. As the Blues welcome eleven players, every single one of them have already made Under-18 appearances, one having featured for a full season, and one of them have made their Under-21 bow. They achieved this during a 2023-24 run where the academy did a terrific job of ensuring a natural blend from 16s to 18s and 18s to 21s, easing the transition when moving up the age groups, and challenging everyone to perform at higher and more challenging levels.
Chelsea, like many other clubs these days, educate their best and brightest full-time on site at Cobham and in partnership with a local school from the age of 13-14 (Year 9 in the English school system). While this summer marked the end of this group’s formally required schooling, and they will each turn professional on their seventeenth birthdays, they continue further education under scholarship requirements, balancing more time on the pitch with extended academic studies, positioning themselves as best possible for adulthood and whatever their future holds.
But we’re here for the football after a tumultuous and era-defining week in the academy, so let’s introduce the talents who will inject fresh impetus into an Under-18 team that will defend the South league title in the year ahead.
Jack Austin, Goalkeeper
A goalkeeper signed from Cambridge United at the end of his Under-14 season, Jack brings size and confidence to a goalkeeping group that features Kai Crampton and fellow new scholar Hudson Sands (see below). Pressed into an emergency debut away to Fulham last season, he looked the part, going on to perform superbly in the title-clinching win at Southampton in May.
Kobe Barbour, Winger
A Chelsea player from Under-9, Kobe is a nice mix of the old-school jinking winger who stays high and wide and can go past you with skill and flair, and the more modern interpretation of a wide forward who has the nous to drift into space, come inside and affect the scoresheet directly. Taller and stronger than he initially looks, there is a crispness and an efficiency to the England Under-16 international’s impressive game.
Landon Emenalo, Defender/Midfielder
A familiar surname to many, dual England and US international Landon is the son of former Technical Director Michael, who served Chelsea with distinction for the better part of a decade either side of 2010. Landon is similar to his father in that he’s a left footed midfielder who can also play at left-back; his best football so far has come as a traditional defensive midfielder, breaking up play with some tough tackling, and being the first port of call to help build playing out from the back and moving the ball through the lines into midfield.
Sol Gordon, Midfielder
For everything that Chelsea do well in academy football, traditional box to box midfielders – or mobile eights as modern nomenclature will try to tell you they’re called – has not been a particularly deep resource over the years. Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are obvious highlights, although two of them were typically used a little further forward, and therefore it will be interesting to see the sort of development Sol takes on over the next few years. Blessed with a great engine to cover the ground between the two boxes, he is a regular fixture on the scoresheet and makes an impact in every game.
Yahya Idrissi-Regragui, Forward
Yahya joined from West Ham as an Under-12 and is a versatile forward who can play wide or lead the line, but is at his best withdrawn as an attacking midfielder, a number ten or a player who drops into those pockets of space where he can pick up the ball and be creative. He combines that with a muscular build and a direct mentality, and is a Morocco Under-18 international who scored on his debut for that age group aged just 16 back in the spring.
Harry McGlinchey, Defender
Harry is an Ireland Under-17 international who signed from Plymouth Argyle at the end of his Under-14 season following an impressive call-up to the England Under-15 ranks. At his best as an attacking left-back, he is assured with his use of the ball and has great capacity to affect the game in both halves, claiming a fine assist on his youth team debut away to Arsenal on the final day of last term.
Shumaira Mheuka, Striker
Shim was playing football at this level during his Under-14 season at Brighton, after which he moved a few miles further up the road and swapped Lancing for Cobham. He bagged 12 goals in 21 appearances (13 starts) last season and would’ve had more were it not for a three-month injury absence. A star for the England Under-17 team at the summer’s European Championships, he is a big, physical centre-forward presence who makes quick decisions with strong technique and a clinical eye for goal.
Harry Rodda, Defender/Midfielder
The newest player to this group, and someone who took a more unusual route to elite academy football, Harry was playing for Wimborne Town until early 2024, impressing in their run to the FA Youth Cup Second Round. He earned a trial with Chelsea for his combative but cultured midfield displays, and subsequently earned himself a scholarship after a successful six-week stint. Deployed at right-back towards the end of the season, he projects as a multi-functional option who will grow as he finds his feet at this higher level.
Hudson Sands, Goalkeeper
Hudson made his Under-18 debut a short while after his 15th birthday during a 2022-23 season where Ed Brand’s team faced a goalkeeping injury crisis. He did a terrific job too, keeping a clean sheet away to Leicester and impressing with a follow-up appearance at home to West Brom before going on to earn England honours. Having made that initial breakthrough due to injury, he was then the unfortunate victim of a spate of issues that wiped out much of the next twelve months, and he’ll go into the new season optimistic that those problems are well behind him.
Tayo Subuloye, Defender
Another academy defender who earned plenty of experience in midfield roles before moving into the back line, Tayo served as the regular Under-16 captain last season and made four appearances for Sulaiman’s team towards the end of the campaign, helping them to clinch the title. Tall, athletic and composed, he has plenty of on the ball quality and puts himself in the right places to deliver on his defensive duties.
Joseph Wheeler-Henry, Defender
A national 200m sprint champion and accomplished academy footballer, Joseph joined from Northwood FC, a small non-league club in North-West London as an Under-13, and quickly showed himself to be a capable defender either in the middle or at full/wing-back. It was at the latter position where he made his youth team bow last season but his physique and playing style both lend themselves well to a future at the heart of a defence.
Rio Ngumoha did not sign his scholarship and is considering his options.
Congratulations and best wishes also go to those who are moving on and continuing their careers at new clubs, a pathway that has also proven to be very fruitful for many Cobham alumni over the years. Davon Gbajumo (Peterborough), Ivan Struk (Sunderland), Aidan Golding (Brentford) and Leo Umeh (Southampton) are all embarking on new ventures, while Raul Vancea (Watford), Macaulay Zepa (Fulham), Ezra Tika-Lemba (Newcastle), Bjorn Marwa (Wolves) and Jerome Osei-Kyeremeh (Crystal Palace) are among those receiving scholarships elsewhere who were a part of the Chelsea family at younger ages.
Just as this incoming group made the step up early during their Under-16 seasons, those moving into that age group this season will be aiming to do the same, and they come with some serious credentials. They won the national Under-15 Floodlit Cup in some style last season, making it a three-peat after Under-14 and Under-13 triumphs that marked them as the best in the country, and as many as eight of them have earned England representation already. Ryan Kavuma-McQueen made his 18s debut late last season while goalkeeper Freddy Bernal was named as a substitute on a handful of occasions; both are England youth internationals, as are Lewi Richards and Reggie Walsh at U16 level and Calvin Diakite, Ibrahim Rabbaj and Charlie Holland at U15.
That talented younger group will provide vital depth in 24-25 as the Blues once again embark on a quest to compete on multiple fronts, pushing players through the levels and on to bigger and better things. The league action gets under way in mid-August and you can, as always, keep up with everything on social media @chelseayouth.