Chelsea have put plenty of investment in some of the top young players in world football over the years, however one of them was given up on after just 108 minutes on the pitch.
Blues supporters are currently enjoying exciting displays from 18-year-old Estevao Willian at Stamford Bridge, with him scoring the winning goal in their last game against Liverpool.
There has always been a pathway for the very best young players in West London, and one individual who was given his chance in the mid 2000s was Ben Sahar.
Chelsea signed Sahar in 2006 for more than £300,000, and it didn’t take long before he was handed his chance in a side who had just been crowned Premier League champions for the second successive season.
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Jose Mourinho gave up on Ben Sahar after just five games at Chelsea
The striker made appearances off the bench in both the FA Cup and EFL Cup, before finally getting his chance in the Premier League against Wigan Athletic.
He went on to feature two more times in the league, including against Manchester United who Jose Mourinho was rivalling with for the title during these years.
After making five appearances in his first season at the club, the Blues decided a loan was best for Sahar, and he would never go on to feature for Chelsea again.
The forward would not leave the club permanently until 2009, when he would depart for a fee of around £1m to join Espanyol.
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There was a lot of hope that Sahar was going to be the next big thing in football, however the move to Chelsea completely tanked his career, which never recovered as a result.
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Ben Sahar’s career fell off after Chelsea move
Sahar would play for a total of 16 clubs in his career since his move to Stamford Bridge, including a spell at Premier League side Portsmouth where he didn’t make a single appearance.
He would still make a mark for his country, scoring eight goals in 44 games across an 11-year span.
There have been plenty of other failed youngsters who were not given a great opportunity for Chelsea, and there will be hope that this trend begins to decline with a lot of money being spent on young talents at the club right now.
As well as Estevao, Kendry Paez, Mike Penders, and Geovany Quenda have a lot of pressure on them to succeed quickly when given their chance, in order to not meet the same fate.