Chelsea have had their ups and downs over the past decade, but the strength of the Cobham academy has remained a satisfying constant throughout.
Whether talented hopefuls are integrated into the Stamford Bridge set-up or sold for pure profit, it’s a model that has served Chelsea well and has bred trophy-winning success with comparative consistency.
Enzo Maresca demonstrated throughout the first year of his tenure a willingness to promote youth. In fact, Chelsea fielded one of the youngest average line-ups in the Premier League last year, securing their place in the Champions League with a top-four finish.
That emphasis has carried into the new season, with the Londoners’ strategy seeing them field a younger average XI than any other team in the division.
Tottenham
3rd
25.1
Man City
5th
24.9
Sunderland
9th
24.7
Brentford
16th
24.7
Chelsea
7th
23.9
This thread has only strengthened during Maresca’s second year in the dugout, with a few of England’s most talented rising stars under the Italian tactician’s wing.
Chelsea's next England stars
Chelsea don’t just promote internally; they sign exciting rising prospects too. And this summer, Jamie Gittens was added to the ranks, having been hailed as a “really sharp” and “electric” winger by his teammate Tyrique George.
George, for that matter, is another of the Blues’ most exciting young players, having graduated from Cobham to make his professional debut at the start of last season, featuring against Servette during Chelsea’s Conference League qualifiers.
The duo have struggled for minutes in Maresca’s team so far this term, but they have showcased an intriguing partnership on international duty with England U21 over the past week, Gittens demonstrating his balletic movement to slide past defenders and play through the 19-year-old George, who rifled his strike into the roof of the net.
Gittens spent some time with Chelsea during his formative days, but the bulk of his development was played out at Reading.
There’s no question that the 21-year-old is a talented winger, but he hasn’t started as strongly as he might have liked after arriving from Borussia Dortmund for about £52m in July, having started only twice in the Premier League so far.
The teenage George is earlier in his development, but given that he started up top as Chelsea beat Benfica in the Champions League last month and replaced the injured Liam Delap just 16 minutes into Chelsea’s clash against Fulham at the end of August, with Gittens staying on the bench, it’s clear Maresca values him.
Both fleet-footed stars typically play off the left flank and have shown signs of potency at different stages, but the nature of Chelsea’s system suggests both could be superseded by an even bigger talent in the coming years. Indeed, there’s a new Cobham up-and-comer who’s storming his way to the first team.
Cobham's biggest English talent
One thing’s for sure: the Cobham production line will continue to churn out exciting prospects. And latest on the belt is Shumaira ‘Shim’ Mheuka, who, aged 17, is already demonstrating significant potential as a centre-forward.
Poached from Brighton & Hove Albion following impressive performances at U14 level, it has been reported that Mheuka is ‘one of if not the most regular’ academy players to train with Maresca’s first team, and all the pointers lead to further opportunities to showcase his potential within the senior Blues fold.
This season, the youngster has scored ten goals and assisted one more across just ten appearances for Chelsea’s U21 outfit, fast-tracked from the U18s to the club’s senior development side in age-belying fashion.
It bears testament to the rangy forward’s potential and the awe he has collected from observers already that he has played 32 times for the U21s, but only 24 times for the U18s. Again, he is 17 years old.
In fact, so exciting is Mheuka’s name that he has been described as “the future of Chelsea and English football” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, and it feels certain that he will start earning regular minutes in Maresca’s senior system.
Because, of course, Mheuka featured four times in the Conference League last year and made his Premier League debut as a late substitute against Southampton in February, during a 4-0 win.
Mheuka is tall, but he is also mobile and sharp when in possession and through his movement when on the ball. A devastating blend of physicality and technical ability marks the perfect profile for Maresca’s set-up, and he might just come to leapfrog over Gittens and George, especially with the latter earning opportunities as a central striker for club and country this season.
Instinctive in front of goal, the teenager is also maturing physically and ticking all the boxes as he looks to nail down a position in the Chelsea first team.
The youngness of Maresca’s project will not be lost on Mheuka and his representatives, nor the fact that he has already been entrusted with opportunities across the 2024/25 campaign.
Considered a leader by example more than a vocal enforcer, the fast-improving number nine is proving his worth at Chelsea, alright, and there’s every chance that his journey will take him up and up and beyond that of George and Gittens, who are fine players in their own right but are already encountering difficulties in breaking into the starting line-up at Chelsea.
Centre-forward has long been a contentious area of the field in west London, but Mheuka could be the long-term solution for a side returning to the very summit of English and European football.