In a curious move ahead of tonight’s Champions League game against Ajax, Chelsea have added a monster 33 players to the European squad.
The Blues can register as many home grown players as they want to their “B list,” and so to avoid future back and forth with UEFA by adding players piecemeal with each round of games as they’re needed, the club have decided it’s better to just add everyone they may consider using at some point.
Chelsea’s youth army ready for action
Here is the full list, as put together by the Daily Mail:
Goalkeepers (three in total): Jack Austin (17), Hudson Sands (18), Toby Bell (16)
Defenders (12 in total): Genesis Antwi (18), Richard Olise (21), Harrison Murray-Campbell (19), Kobe Barbour (18), Harry McGlinchey (17), Kaiden Wilson (20), Olutayo Subuloye (17), Joseph Wheeler-Henry (17), Calvin Diakite (16), Isago Silva (16), Lewi Richards (17), Dante Waite (17)
Midfielders (13 in total): Sam Rak-Sakyi (20), Jimi Tauriainen (21), Harrison McMahon (19), Leo Cardoso (19), Landon Emenalo (17), Sol Gordon (17), Ollie Harrison (18), Yahya Idrissi-Regragui (17), Frankie Runham (18), Shaun Wade (19), Charles Holland (16), Jeremiah Berkeley-Agyepong (16), Ibrahim Rabbaj (16)
Forwards (five in total): Ato Ampah (19), Shim Mheuka (18), Chizaram Ezenwata (17), Ryan Kavuma-McQueen (16), Joel Vidal-Philbert (16)
Chelsea’s most likely to play from exciting group
There are some notable and interesting names in there. Thiago Silva’s son Isago, for one, and Michael Emenalo’s son Landon, who has been on a Premier League bench already.
The likes of Sam Rak-Sakyi and Jimi Tauriainen have already made their first team debuts, and some like Ryan Kavuma-McQueen are expected to make the breakthrough this season.
We wonder how many of the 33 end up getting minutes this season? A lot will depend on the Blues’ progress in the group. Win tonight and beat Qarabag in our next league phase game and we will be in a strong position to potentially
However finishing outside the top 8 but inside the top 12 means a guaranteed two extra playoff games, and the club will do everything they can to avoid that.
