The Chelsea u18 ballers you may not know that are ready to blow

A youth revolution under the stewardship of Frank Lampard has seen Chelsea become quickly synonymous with an expansive, energetic style led by the club’s academy graduates.

The talent has always been there. The pathway hasn’t. Times are changing however, and for the better, with the recent Premier League debuts of 18 year olds Tino Anjorin and Armando Broja showing the club’s ‘golden generation’ of young talent that hard work will be rewarded.

So who are some of the lesser known u18 ballers fresh off the Cobham production line that you need to be keeping an eye out for?

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Lewis Bate

In another u18 season dominated by success, albeit without any silverware to hand, it has been the performances of young midfield prodigy Lewis Bate that have consistently caught the eye.

Rather slight in stature, Lewis is a midfielder of culture that exudes class on the ball with the tenacity out of possession to match, and has regularly been afforded the license to dictate things from deep alongside good friend and the more advanced Xavier Simons.

To put it bluntly, Lewis has often looked too good for his age group, with the Stamford Bridge pitch his carpet as the Blues ran out as comfortable 1-0 winners against Milwall in the quarters of the FA Youth Cup. It comes as no surprise that Lewis has already made the transition into u23 football, partnering Ruben Loftus Cheek on his road to recovery away to Everton early in March.

Whilst the journey may have begun as a 9 year old left back turned midfielder from local team in Sidcup, Footscray Lions, he is only just getting started at Chelsea. Lewis remains under no illusions as to the size of the task ahead but one wouldn’t bet against a first team debut in the coming years for one of England’s undoubted biggest young talents.

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Levi Colwill and Dynel Simeu

Cobham has produced its fair share of ballers at the back in recent times, namely a certain Fikayo Tomori, not to forget u17 World Cup winners Jon Panzo and Marc Guehi.

The class of '02 and '03 are no different. Blessed with athleticism and a remarkable composure, the left footed Levi Colwil, who joined the academy as an under 9, is what you would call a modern day centre back, best known for his ability to carry the ball out from the back with pace and assertion, and has quickly emerged as one of the Young Lions’s most important u17s.

Partner in crime Dynel Simeu’s rise has been less than conventional but equally as impressive. Snapped up by Chelsea scouts at grassroots level in Southampton as a 14 year old, Dynel is a natural leader with poise and presence, and commanding displays at club level have seen him capped on multiple occasions by the England u18s.

Granted, neither Huddersfield, Bradford, Wolves nor Milwall could provide any sort of challenge for the nine time FA Youth Cup winners this season, but four clean sheets on the bounce in academy football’s most prestigious competition certainly comes as no coincidence.

With Ian Maatsen and Tino Livramento either side of them, Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup team can proudly boast one of the strongest backlines in academy football. Expect some more development team opportunities for the pair next season, and long may the partnership continue.

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Ben Elliott

An agile, creative attacking midfielder known for his ability to control proceedings, Ben has been touted from a young age as that guy one day capable of making it in West London, having made waves on FFDTV’s youtube channel as a 12 year old, mixing it up with your Jon Panzo’s of England u17 World Cup fame among other big ballers like Jamal Musiala and namesake Harvey Elliott during his school years.

This is a talent rated highly by both club and national team, having been signed by Chelsea at six years old.

The man was fast tracked into captaining England’s u15 side as a year 8 and was the only u15 to be selected in the 17/18 Uefa Youth League squad that included Callum Hudson Odoi, Ethan Ampadu and Billy Gilmour to name a few. Untimely injuries to his ankle and knee have disrupted his momentum over the last few seasons but whilst setbacks are normal, Ben Elliott isn’t.

A baller of crazy promise, let’s hope Ben can get up to speed as soon as possible and make his mark on the u18 side. Do not be sleeping on him next year.

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Tino Livramento

The full back from Croydon has similarly spent the majority of his footballing education at Cobham, having been invited to trial as a seven year old. Like a number of players, Tino has been deployed across a number of positions during his academy years, after coaches decided that his pace was best used down the right wing, before developing into an extremely well rounded full back.

That pace is certainly an asset; Tino is a powerful runner, credited with a consistent ability to travel up and down the right hand side and beat a man, as well as a unique maturity for his age. His influence on a game and end product is of genuine quality, so much quality in fact that the 17 year old was handed a call up to the England u19s in a 4-0 win over Luxembourg in November.

He has also played the most minutes this season out of all of the first year scholars for the u23s, starring in an away draw to Wolves in which he bagged a day after signing his first professional contract.

The only concern reserved for him is no fault of his own.

Reece James appears to have locked down a starting berth for the immediate future, whilst Dujon Sterling is still rated highly within the club and a number of promising right backs such as Derrick Abu continue to make their way through the youth ranks behind him.

His quality and determination to succeed however, as well as the current management situation, ensures that Tino will be well versed to impose himself on the first team should the time come.