Chelsea have been snapping up new youngster left, right, and centre since the new ownership group came in and hired his new sporting directors.
One of those directors who seems to be more focused on bringing in top young talents than others is Joe Shields. He has a good reputation of finding top young talents and he is also credited for signing a number of the former Manchester City players that Chelsea now have on their books, like Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia.
BIG EXCLUSIVE!! Chelsea exploring ambitious move to sign Manchester City centre back as well as watching TWO Benfica defenders!!
Shields is sort of the unsung hero I guess, the one director who doesn’t seem to be in the media much but is just quietly going about his business. He’s also the one Chelsea director who seems to be universally liked at the club.
Shields spotted Leighton
Sean Leighton, a product of Phoenix All Stars Football Academy in Jamaica, is set to have a trial with Chelsea next month. The player himself has confirmed this.
He was spotted by Shields after the Blues director made a trip to go and watch Dujuan Richards, who is now a Chelsea player.
Speaking on SportsMax Zone, the teenager said: “When they [Chelsea] came, they were coming to look at Whisper [Dujuan Richards]. You know Joe Shields? He came and then he spotted me and then he had a talk with my father and then he came to me and said I must… he gave me two players to watch: Cole Palmer and Chukwuemeka.
“He said, ‘They have a similar build to you and I think you should look at how they play and build and how you play off of them’. So I think he saw something special in me.”
Interesting that he’s mentioned Chukwuemeka, who doesn’t even really play for Chelsea anymore and looks like he might be sold.
