Youth & Reserves

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…

Having recapped the tale of every single one of Chelsea’s considerable list of players sent out on loan during the 2012-13 campaign, all that’s left to do this season is to detail their respective end of term statistics. [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club(s),Country,Apps,Goals,Assists,Clean Sheets Amin Affane,Roda JC,Netherlands,16,1,5,- Patrick Bamford,MK Dons,England,14,4,0,- Jeffrey Bruma,Hamburg,Germany,18,1,1,- Nathaniel Chalobah,Watford,England,42,5,0,- Billy Clifford,Colchester,England,18,1,3,- Thibaut Courtois,Atlético Madrid,Spain,44,0,-,23 Cristian Cuevas,O’Higgins,Chile,7,0,0,- Ulises Dávila,Sabadell,Spain,38,5,2,- Kevin De Bruyne,Werder Bremen,Germany,34,10,9,- Matej Delac,Vitória SC/Inter Zapresic,Portugal/Croatia,17,0,-,4…

To round up the 2012-13 youth football season at Chelsea, we’re reviewing every single one of the Chelsea youngsters currently on the books who have spent time out on loan during the campaign. Here, we focus on Jhon Pírez. Club: Leganés (Spain) Appearances: 10 (2 goals) The Story The Jhon Pírez story took an unexpected turn this past season when it transpired that not only did he actually exist, but…

To round up the 2012-13 youth football season at Chelsea, we’re reviewing every single one of the Chelsea youngsters currently on the books who have spent time out on loan during the campaign. Here, we focus on Ulises Dávila. Club: Sabadell (Spain) Appearances: 36 (5 goals) The Story In his second year as a Chelsea player, Mexican winger Dávila finally started to gain some traction in his career and enjoyed…

To round up the 2012-13 youth football season at Chelsea, we’re reviewing every single one of the Chelsea youngsters currently on the books who have spent time out on loan during the campaign. Here, we focus on Thibaut Courtois. Club: Atlético Madrid (Spain) Appearances: 44 The Story There is no Chelsea loanee more capable of coming in and playing for the club at an elite level off the bat than…

To round up the 2012-13 youth football season at Chelsea, we’re reviewing every single one of the Chelsea youngsters currently on the books who have spent time out on loan during the campaign. Here, we focus on Lucas Piazon. Team: Málaga (Spain) Appearances: 13 The Story Lucas Piazón’s mid-season departure to Málaga was a curious one, for the Brazilian hadn’t really worked himself into the first team squad at Chelsea…

To round up the 2012-13 youth football season at Chelsea, we’re reviewing every single one of the Chelsea youngsters currently on the books who have spent time out on loan during the campaign. Here, we focus on Michael Essien. Club: Real Madrid (Spain) Appearances: 34 (2 goals) The Story We didn’t cover Michael Essien during the course of the season in the weekly Loan Report, primarily because he’s the rare…