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When Chelsea’s Under-21 team depart for their pre-season trip to the United States on Tuesday, a relatively unfamiliar face will be amongst them. Jack Powell, a midfielder who had spent the last ten years at West Ham United, has been training with Dermot Drummy’s group since returning from the summer holidays and will be aboard the plan headed for New York City and Philadelphia. Born and raised in East London,…

Geoffrey Kondogbia’s name has been paired with Chelsea’s on a regular basis this summer as the transfer rumour mill does what it does best. It makes a degree of sense too. The French Under-20 midfielder is an impressive combination of athletic prowess and technical excellence, and he happens to play in a position and role which the Blues could do with one or two reinforcements. There is, however, another way…

It barely seems like it was yesterday that were welcoming last season’s crop of first year scholars to Chelsea, but it’s that time of year where another crop of 16 year-olds ‘officially’ begin their full-time education at Cobham as prospective young footballers. ‘Officially’ is something of a misnomer though, since many of the group have been at the training ground day in and day out for the last year or…

Chelsea will shortly complete the signing of 16 year-old forward Isaiah ‘Izzy’ Brown from West Bromwich Albion after the finer details of the move were finalised on Friday. The Blues have held a long-standing interest in the Peterborough-born youngster but only accelerated the process of signing the England youth international in recent weeks. Perhaps spurred into action by his ascent into professional football and the potential of losing him to…

With Chelsea’s youngsters returning to Cobham for pre-season training this week, a slew of talented up-and-comers took the time to sit down and put pen to paper on their first professional contracts. A highly-rated crop who reached the FA Youth Cup and NextGen Series Finals in their debut campaign as scholars, they have taken the next step by both being rewarded for their excellent progress as well as committing their…

The wider world of football scouting often throws up complicated situations which don’t quite fall into the usual well-defined paths we tend to expect. As Chelsea, like many other elite clubs, seek to gain a competitive advantage by casting their net far and wide, they have invariably stumbled upon a couple of these situations, and whilst the names involved may be familiar to some, the circumstances are somewhat more uncertain….

Chelsea have been swift in getting the ball rolling on the loan front ahead of the 2013-14 season, with moves already secured for Thibaut Courtois, George Saville and Todd Kane announced this week. With well over thirty different players taking in a temporary experience elsewhere last season, it’s a central part of the development process at the club and whilst many of those are likely to embark upon a now…

By now you’ll likely have seen news emerge that Jose Mourinho is said to have sought out comprehensive coverage of those plying their (admittedly youthful) trade on the other side of the road from the first team building at Cobham. The Special One is said to have taken a keener interest than expected in some of the Blues’ budding young footballers with a view to integrating some of them in…