Omari Kellyman’s debut season at Chelsea has been wrecked by injury so far, but he was involved with the Under-21s team on Friday night.
It was a big evening for the Chelsea academy as the U21s side beat Ipswich Town 2-1 to reach the Premier League Cup quarter-finals.
Rio Morgan’s goal put Ipswich ahead before Shim Mheuka equalised for the Blues from the penalty spot. Remarkably, Mheuka became Chelsea’s youngster starter in Europe just 24 hours earlier when he played for the first team on Thursday in the Conference League against Copenhagen.
Eventually, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen scored a late winner for Chelsea’s U21s in the Premier League cup.
There was more good news for the Blues this week regarding Omari Kellyman.
Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Omari Kellyman makes first Chelsea appearance since August
Even though Chelsea paid £19m to sign Kellyman from Aston Villa in the summer of 2024, fans have barely had a glimpse of him.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder, who’s yet to make his first-team debut for the Blues, has been sidelined since August with a long-term hamstring injury.
However, Keyllyman returned to action on Friday night with a 20-minute cameo off the bench for the U21s side against Ipswich.
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It’s previously been claimed that Chelsea view Kellyman as a first-team player despite the fact he’s not made a senior appearance yet.
Kellyman was left off pre-season last summer by the Blues with a minor injury. Since then, he suffered the long-term injury issue and has been working on his recovery since August.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Aston Villa didn’t want to sell Omari Kellyman
Kellyman will still be a bit of an unknown to Chelsea supporters because he’s now only played a few games for their U21s. They may be excited by the fact that Villa never wanted to sell him last summer, though.
Even though Villa wanted to keep Kellyman at the club, they sold him to Chelsea to help compliant with PSR rules.
The teenager made two first-team appearances in Villa colours, both in the Conference League during the 2023/24 season. He’ll hope it’s not too long before he gets a look-in with the senior group at Stamford Bridge.