ALEJANDRO GARNACHO and Jamie Gittens will be used to checking their shoulders before driving down the left-hand side of the pitch, but could soon need to be wary of a Cobham starlet creeping up on them in search of their first-team place.
But the man, or boy, chasing down that spot at Chelsea may be closer to it than they think, and he goes by the name Ryan Kavuma-McQueen.
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen scored four goals for England’s U17s against Germany[/caption]
The ace is making a big wave in Chelsea’s academy[/caption]
Kavuma-McQueen is being tipped to outshine Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha[/caption]
Still just 16-years-old, making him even younger than the likes of Rio Ngumoha at Liverpool, he made headlines in the international break thanks to a FOUR-goal haul for England’s u17’s against Germany.
Not to mention he bagged an assist too, before scoring a screamer from outside the box to give his country the lead after coming back from 1-0 down.
Picking the ball up on the right-hand side, he cut inside onto his lethal left foot and smashed a dipping shot past the German goalkeeper, left in awe of what he’d just seen.
His second goal bought the Young Lions level at 3-3 from the penalty spot, in what was a crazy game ending 7-5 in England’s favour.
And to make it a first-half hat-trick, it was McQueen by name, McQueen by nature as he raced down the right at lightning speed, showing panache in his low finish into the back of the net.
Believe it or not, it was only two minutes into the second half before he added his fourth of the afternoon, this time a left-footed chip over the keeper, assisted by fellow Chelsea teammate Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli.
The winger was subject to serious interest last summer from clubs in the Premier League and on the continent, as teams across the world looked to take him away from Cobham and let him shine, much as Ngumoha has done for Liverpool.
However, Kavuma-McQueen decided to stay with the Blues, and despite being still so young, the forward is thriving for Chelsea’s u21 team and for England too.
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At under-18 level and in the Premier League 2, he has accumulated 11 goals and five assists in 25 appearances so far.
That includes two goal contributions in just over 150 minutes so far this season for the Chelsea under-21’s in games against Man City, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
Kavuma-McQueen is loving his time at Chelsea[/caption]
He got the man of the match award for his efforts against Germany[/caption]
He celebrated alongside Chelsea pals Mathis Eboue and Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli[/caption]
He’s one of two Cobham products that have stolen the spotlight this season already, with Shim Mheuka also on red-hot form in this campaign – scoring five goals in three games for England’s u19s, and five goals in four games for Chelsea’s u21s.
Believe it or not, 22 goals were scored in total between England U17s and U19s during this break, with 55% of those goals coming from Cobham players.
The future is certainly bright at Chelsea, and with injuries already running rife in the Blues’ squad, don’t be surprised to see these two youngsters given opportunities by Maresca soon enough.
There has already been reported interest in Kavuma-McQueen from the likes of Liverpool and Barcelona.
But Chelsea managed to tie him down to a two-year scholarship deal, which was recently announced alongside fellow academy gems Ibrahim Rabbaj, Isago Silva, and Mathis Eboue.