Chelsea’s youth FA club drubbing of Barnsley highlighted the skills of young stars, especially Jude Soonsup-Bell, Tino Livramento and Lewis Bate.
Taking a break from the first team after the 0-0 derby draw against Spurs, it was great to see the highlights of Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup game against Barnsley. The score ended up 8-1 in favor of the Blues and it was quite a showcase for a few potential first team stars of the future.
Perhaps the best performance of the day belonged to Jude Soonsup-Bell. Haven’t heard of this 16-year-old? Well, you soon will. Soonsup-Bell is a rising star, perfecting his craft and showing incredible potential in the No. 9 spot. In this particular outing, he put the haul—which is four goals—past Barnsley. You need not say much more than “four goals” to justify calling a performance incredible, but more impressively, this young man made it look easy.
This young man has tremendous potential as a first team striker and he may not have to wait too long to get his chance. Soonsup-Bell won’t be 17 years old until January; yet, he’s already making his mark on the Blues’ outstanding youth team. As a part of the U18 side, he’s scored seven goals in six games. In addition, his haul against Barnsley brought the total to 11 goals in seven games to-date across all competitions.
Possessing citizenship from both England and Thailand he’ll be well sought-after in coming years. Although, it seems that England is the choice since he has already played for country’s U15 and U16 teams. He’s under contract at Chelsea until June of 2022 and he’ll hopefully be signed up for a long extension in the near future. He’s a tall lad who is still growing; he has both the size and skill to maybe become a Harry Kane type of forward for Chelsea in a few years. Keep an eye on this youngster.
All of that being said, Soonsup-Bell could not have netted four goals without the help of Valentino (Tino) Livramento. He’s a young attacking midfielder who can really deliver the ball in to the forwards with lethal precision. He’s just turned 18 years old and is experienced on several English national youth teams. His delivery in the recent game against Barnsley was a thing of beauty and Soonsup-Bell found himself on the end of a couple great passes. Livramento also found the back of the net in that game. He’s another young midfield maestro for the Blues’ faithful to keep an eye on in the future.
Lastly, the captain for the game against Barnsley was a name that should be familiar to Chelsea supporters, Lewis Bate. The 18-year-old’s passing from midfield is as precise as they come and he also scored what may have been the goal of the game. Bate netted a goalazo on a laser of a shot from deep, putting an exclamation mark on a massive win. Bate is a central midfielder reminiscent of Billy Gilmour, who he has had the pleasure of playing alongside on a few occasions. He’s a smaller fellow with great instincts and passing ability.
Frank Lampard evidently sees the potential, as he called up Bate for two bench appearances with the first team last season. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be too long before we see Bate make the move over to the top teams’ dressing room at Cobham. He’s on the cusp of breaking into the first team, and only the tremendous depth in the squad may be a deterrent to that happening sooner rather than later.
Those are just three of Cobham’s most exciting prospects to keep an eye on for the future. Clearly, Chelsea’s academy remains one of, if not the—best in the world.