Chelsea haven’t always been known as a club willing to nurture their young talents. Rather, their past reputation saw them constantly loan out starlets to far-off outfits, far removed from first-team minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Just last season saw the Blues chuck out the likes of Armando Broja and Djorde Petrovic to sides such as Everton and RC Strasbourg on loan, with both players now no longer on the books of the Premier League giants, as their patience ran thin with their lack of senior chances back at their parent employers.
However, this campaign so far, the narrative seems to be noticeably changing under Enzo Maresca, with Chelsea’s last Champions League tie seeing a whole host of promising stars for the future in Estevao, Jamie Gittens, and Marc Guiu lead the line, as the youthful Blues convincingly put Ajax to the sword 5-1.
Even in the bread and butter of league action, the Italian has been unafraid to gamble on the next generation coming through, with his willingness to integrate youth players into the senior frame very much paying off against Nottingham Forest…
Chelsea's crop of rising stars
Josh Acheampong’s first-ever senior goal would get Chelsea up and running on their travels to Nottinghamshire, with this confidently taken header also signalling the beginning of the end for Ange Postecoglou at the Tricky Trees.
The 19-year-old defender has already matched the same number of Premier League appearances he made last season this campaign at four, with seven duels won against Forest, on top of just four of his 52 passes being misplaced, backing up previous claims made by his manager that he can be a “top player” down the line for his boyhood side.
With a second-half run-out also handed to him against Ajax, expect to see Acheampong start a lot more games moving forward, as he only grows more in confidence, having also been branded as “excellent” by journalist Ben Jacobs after his goalscoring moment against Forest.
He, of course, isn’t the only emerging youngster catching the eye in West London, though, with the aforementioned duo of Guiu and Gittens also standing out, alongside a hotly-tipped Estevao, who is already being lauded as “world-class” by scout Jacek Kulig, despite being just 18 years of age.
The ex-Palmeiras wonderkid hasn’t floundered under his intense spotlight, either, with two senior strikes already collected at Chelsea.
Yet, there is another starlet who looks to be as exciting as Estevao, now, despite very much being in the early days of his unfolding senior career.
The Chelsea teenager who's as exciting as Estevao
It will be intriguing to see if Maresca sticks with this youth-focused approach in the Champions League, the more the tense competition progresses, with this decision to play a very young side last time out – with an average age of just 22 years and 163 days – going down as a masterstroke.
Regardless of whether he continues to be bold with his selections or not, there certainly seems to be a bright future ahead for 17-year-old Reggie Walsh in West London, with the homegrown midfielder now going down in the Blues’ history books as their youngest ever Champions League player when coming on against Ajax.
Minutes played
24
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
22
Accurate passes
18/19 (95%)
Key passes
2
Interceptions
2
Recoveries
2
He didn’t look out of his depth for the 24 minutes he was on the turf, either, with Walsh only misdirecting one of his 18 passes on the day, with two key passes tallied up from his cameo nearly unlocking the porous visitors even more.
Amazingly, this isn’t the first time that the 17-year-old has been trusted to perform on the European stage, with a 90-minute run-out even afforded to him last season in the Conference League.
He is yet to get up and running in the blue of Chelsea in the senior ranks, but goals and assists should come his way soon, you imagine, to rival Estevao, with the number 46 previously being lauded as a “joy to watch” in this capacity by one Blues content creator, when collecting six goals and two assists in the U18 picture from 20 outings.
While the revolving door of loans that once occurred at Stamford Bridge did halt some players and their development, a loan away from West London could do Walsh the world of good soon, with Estevao undoubtedly boosted by his senior success in Brazil.
Such a chance could come Walsh’s way in January, but until then, don’t be surprised to see he’s still being selected here and there by Maresca, alongside Acheampong and Estevao.
With a new professional contract having only just been penned, Walsh looks to just be at the very start of what will hopefully be a fruitful first-team journey at Stamford Bridge.