The bright young things

Last updated : 02 July 2013 By Jaime Wilkinson

Just saw your tweet, thought it might be useful if I put below something I've done before:

 
Below I assess some of our brightest young players and try to determine whether they will make it into our first-team:
 
Oriol Romeu:
Signed by AvB in 2011, Romeu has shown snippets of his Barca based up-bringing. He had an extended run in the team when Benitez first took over before having his season cut short vs Sunderland in December. I think Romeu has everything it takes to make that step-up into our first team, especially with the vacant positions in our midfield, if he gets a manager who rates him then he for sure will be one to watch in the future.
 
Kevin De Bruyne:
What to do with a problem like De Bruyne? A real nuisance in the form of a fantastic footballer. He has excelled in his loan to Werder Bremen and is attracting interest from teams such as Champions league runners-up Dortmund. I have no doubt that if De Bruyne is shown some faith by incoming manager José Mourinho he'll be lighting up the Premier league for the next decade. He is as complete as footballers come and has remarkable crossing ability, something we seriously lack. If not sold, De Bruyne will 100% make it into our first-team and will be an important player for years to come.
 
Thibaut Courtois:
Another real pain in the backside, he wasn't supposed to be this good this soon. Courtois has broken countless records at Atletico and is regarded as one of the worlds finest goalkeepers at the age of just 21. What we know for sure is that Petr Cech isn't ready to go, he's the worlds best and for what he has done for this club, he deserves a little loyalty. What I know for sure is that the Chelsea board are definitely not selling Courtois, Cech may have another five or six years in him at this level but Courtois could be our No.1 for the next two decades. He will take over from Cech in the next couple of seasons and it will be a worthy investment, he could well become one of the best goalkeepers the game has ever seen.
 
Romelu Lukaku:
Needs no introduction, he's put West Brom on his back this year to make him one of Europe's hottest properties. Last years failure for him has seemed to increase his hunger for the game, 17 goals in his first proper season in the premier league speaks for its self. Our current No.9, although reaching 23 goals in all competitions, fired home just 8 in the league last term and that's quite frankly not good enough. A real opportunity has arisen for Lukaku to walk right in and make that position his own, I have every confidence that he will do that and if shown some faith in will surpass his tally from last season.
 
Josh McEachran:
The boy that promised so much yet has thus far has delivered so little, McEachran was seen as the ideal heir to Lampard's throne but has failed to live up to that hefty expectation. I'm one of the firm believers that McEachran will eventually come good and there is no solid logic behind this other than faith in the boys ability. So my heart's saying that McEachran WILL make it, my head is thinking otherwise. What do you think?
 
Gaël Kakuta:
For someone who earned comparisons to the great Zizou, Kakuta has not impressed at all. After some extremely unsuccessful loan spells he has finally proven to us all at Vitesse that he's an average player and stands no chance whatsoever making it at Chelsea, sorry Gaël!
 
Lucas Piazón:
People may have their doubts about Piazón, some may say we have a wealth of talent in his position and thus he stands little chance of making it at Chelsea. I disagree, he wasn't called 'the new Kaka' at the age of 15 for nothing, he is one special player and he will make it at Chelsea. Forgetting his penalty miss, he made an instant impact vs Aston Villa in December with a pin-point pass through for Ramires to tuck home and he won the penalty which he missed after some clever footwork. Mark my words, he'll make it.
 
Patrick van Aanholt:
After a decent loan-spell at Vitesse the question is, what next for PvA? Well, I could tell you, a cheap move abroad. Even if we don't bring in Luke Shaw the realism is, we'll sign another left-back. He's not going to replace A.Cole, in my opinion he's not a whole lot better than Ryan Bertrand, so he'll probably leave opposed to rotting in the reserves.
 
Jeffrey Bruma:
Some may argue that we need a new CB with Terry's sharp decline but Bruma isn't the answer. Never really had what it takes to cut it at Chelsea and a permanent move to Dutch side PSV looks likely.
 
Nathaniel Chalobah:
One of the Championship players of the season, players with a manner well above his years and at 18 years old the best is yet to come. There is no doubt in my mind Chalobah will make it at Chelsea, whether it be at CB or CDM he's fantastic and he loves the club. Mourinho isn't known for supporting the younger players but I'm sure he took the job on the understanding from the board that he will help us progress our young talents. Plus he's not stupid, Chalobah has raw, extreme talent.
 
Wallace:
Anyone compared to Cafu at the age of 19 must be one hell of a player, and I have only heard good things of Wallace. I'm not going to say that I watch alot of Brazillian football because that would be a lie but from what I've heard Wallace is on track to become a really fantastic right-back. His only obstacle is that we already have one of the league's best in Cesar Azpilicueta, this might be a battle you'll want to keep an eye on in the next season seasons.
 
Thorgan Hazard:
Now I'm not sure if we signed Thorgan to please Eden or because we thought he had the quality to cut it here, but whatever reason we had for signing him, I'm glad we did. Although Zulte Waregem narrowly missed out of the title he has been in top-form this season and has been rewarded for it with an International call-up. Question is will he make it here at Chelsea? Only time will tell, my first thoughts are yes.
 
Andreas Christensen:
Wasn't overly impressive in Chelsea's two games in the USA vs Man City but he's a young lad and will only get better. He's one of those players where only time will tell if he has to cut it at Chelsea, but if I were to make an early prediction I would say he has a good chance of making it into our first time in around five years if he sticks around and carries on developing. There's not many defenders out there better to learn from than John Terry.
 
Ruben Loftus-Cheek:
With scouts from Barcelona knocking on his door, Loftus-Cheek has the world at his feet. He was extremely impressive vs Man City before picking up a slight knock and has everything going for him. If Loftus-Cheek doesn't make it into our first team then it highlights everything wrong with this football club, I mean that.
 
Nathan Aké:
When an 18 year old bosses a midfield containing Marouane Fellaini you know that you've got a star. His composure on the ball is second to none in our squad, he has an excellent passing range and as shown vs Man City he can strike a ball sweetly. He played a big part in Chelsea reaching the Next-gen final beating teams such as Barcelona and Arsenal on their way and he will 100% make it at Chelsea, he could walk into our team next season if he plays the way he did vs Everton and M'boro.
 
Islam Feruz:
With his clinical finishing ability and eye for goal Feruz has adopted quite an impressive goal-scoring record and is another who has been instrumental in Chelsea's success in the Next-gen series, as well as reaching the final of the FA Youth cup. However I feel that although just a few years seperate them, Lukaku is a whole world ahead of Feruz in his development and that Feruz may well make it somewhere, but not here.
 
Thankyou for reading, if there's any other players you would like to know my opinion on you can tweet me at @ParkedTheBus.