Chelsea have the belief that one youngster who developed at Cobham could go on and become one of the world’s best players in his position.
The pattern at Chelsea is they continue to promote exciting youngsters from the academy to their first-team group.
Although the Blues receive a lot of criticism from rival supporters for their huge investment in the transfer market, there is usually a strong core of academy graduates in their senior squad.
Guus Hiddink thinks Chelsea’s owners have turned things around after a shaky start to life in West London. If they keep the academy at the heart of their plans, fans are likely to be pretty pleased.
The Chelsea squad in team training at Cobham.
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Josh Acheampong tipped to be one of the world’s best
According to The Sun, Chelsea youngster Josh Acheampong has been a highly rated figure at Cobham while he’s been coming through the youth ranks.
The report explains that the 19-year-old centre-back is expected to keep growing and developing with Chelsea. Eventually, the belief is that the Englishman can emerge as one of the very best in the world in his position.
Acheampong has been tipped to succeed at Chelsea by the scout who first saw him as a youngster. In fairness, everything points towards him being a long-term answer in the Blues defence.
It has been superb to see the towering defender grow into an important part of Enzo Maresca’s squad, with the head coach integrating him at a steady pace.
Of course, the noise around the youngster has increased recently after impressive back-to-back starts in the Premier League. It even led to Chelsea captain Reece James tipping Acheampong for a “super bright future” because of his composed performance in the backline.
Josh Acheampong playing for Chelsea against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Could Josh Acheampong be an outside shout for the World Cup?
While Acheampong may be a complete outside shot to make Thomas Tuchel’s England squad at the 2026 World Cup, we don’t think it is impossible.
The impressive centre-half is currently part of Lee Carsley’s England Under-21s on the international scene. In reality, there must be several English defenders ahead of him in the pecking order for the senior group.
However, Acheampong will surely grab Tuchel’s eye at the very least if he starts to play consistently in the Chelsea first team.
It is probably a tournament too early for the Blues talent to make a late surge for England’s senior squad, but it feels inevitable he will end up there further down the line.