Chelsea FC Youth Academy: 5 Players to Watch in 2012

Chelsea have not been famed recently for bringing through youngsters. But history shows that Chelsea have produced some of the best talent England has seen. From Osgood to Terry, Venables to McEachran, Chelsea do have one of the best youth academies in the country if not the best with current talent stirring around in there.

This is the best chance in a long time for Chelsea to bring through five or six youngsters into the first team over the next few years.

Romelu Lukaku

Since his £18 million transfer Lukaku hasn't really been given the chance in the first team by AVB. But 2012 brings new beginnings and he will look to take his chance in Drogba's absence while he's at the African Cup of Nations.

This could be one of Chelsea's best deals ever, if he fulfils his potential. This is a player that is probably one of the most feared young strikers around and he can barely get a game in the Chelsea squad. He managed to rule the Belgian league with ease at Anderlecht only being 16 and 17, which must have been embarrassing for the experienced defenders.

The main question for the year ahead is will Lukaku get a chance starting in the side? I hope he does against some of the so-called weaker sides. This player has surprisingly quick feet for being such a big unit and his pace is a great asset for the side. Hopefully he will help improve something that Chelsea have been criticised for in the past.

My verdict is that Lukaku will get his chance at some point in the year, but they need to decide rather quickly otherwise send him on loan.

Lucas Piazon

Hailed by many as the next Kaka, which isn't a bad comparison when your 17. He had been tipped for greatness at a very early age and is now close to fulfilling it, and it looks like Chelsea are going to be getting the benefits.

He can't officially play for Chelsea until later this month, but since joining he has been playing with the youth and reserve sides. He has been a massive hit and has been playing at an extremely high standard adapting to the English game quicker than expected.

Since joining the Blues he has ripped teams to shreds with his pace and discrete strength. One of the best things I've seen this season is watching Piazon rip Arsenal apart with a solo dribble and then tease the keeper with a delayed shot.

This guy should be given a chance in the first team to determine whether or not it would be right for him to go out on loan

Josh McEachran

Arguably the most promising youngster Chelsea have at their disposal. A future England midfielder in the making and the ideal type of midfielder that AVB is looking for. So I ask the question, why hasn't he got his chance? only AVB can answer that but I have a hunch that he doesn't want to rush him into the squad when the club is in a slightly awkward moment.

Nevertheless, this player has a touch of class about him that any club will want to have him in the squad. With an apparent loan on the horizon to Swansea, we could be seeing something similar to the Wilshere scenario. I am extremely excited about this deal going through as I have the utmost confidence that Josh will be a success at the Swans for the rest of the season.

I am going to make a bold decision that I might get criticism for, but I predict that Josh will have a successful 2012 and then by 2013 we'll be wondering if England is a possibility.

Thibaut Courtois

The natural successor to Petr Cech. He had an extremely good season last year in Belgium with Genk. Then Chelsea were the first to swoop in for him. Immediately loaned out to Athletico Madrid getting the yellow shirt ahead of Sergio Asenjo, a proven La Liga keeper.

His 2012 will most likely be spent in Spain so the exposure to first team football will do him the world of good.

There isn't much to say about Courtois's potential as he is pretty much performing at such a high level it's hard to say that he hasn't already come close to fulfilling it. He plans to stay at Athletico for 5 seasons to help his development it might be frightening, if he keeps on improving at this rate, to choose between him and Cech for the starting spot.

Islam Feruz

Just for a lad of 17 years of age he has gone through a hell of a lot. He is a refuge of war savaged Somalia immigrating to Scotland where he got picked up by Celtic. Just to be told that he has to leave for being an illegal immigrant. The only reason he was able to stay was due to the hard work of Tommy Burns he was able to stay and manage to perform at such a high level he got into the Celtic first team and attracted interest from Chelsea.

The abuse that he has suffered from Celtic fans has been disgraceful, no one deserves that sort of thing to happen to him. Nevertheless, he has still been able to perform well for Chelsea at youth and reserve level joining up well with Lucas Piazon.

This lad isn't likely to make his debut for the first team this year, however he still has a big year ahead of him. Thats's the reason he has been included in this list. If he can continue performing well he may be loaned out to play at a higher level and then expect some class. He has been dubbed the "Scottish Wayne Rooney" he has a very similar playing style to Zola in the way he gets about the pitch, hopefully for those who aren't aware of this player it gives you a little idea of what he's like.

Conclusion

Chelsea should be proud of there youth players and so should the fans. The future is looking bright for Chelsea and look like they will be able to go along with the Financial Fair Play rules coming into effect.

There were a couple of players that should be included but I decided against it like Lalkovic, Chalobah, Hutchinson, Ake and then a bit more experienced ones such as Bruma, Van Aanholt and Bertrand.