Is Charlie Colkett the Best-Kept Secret of Chelsea's Academy?

STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON—Charlie Colkett couldn’t have timed his FA Youth Cup final display any better.

Just hours before Chelsea sealed back-to-back victories in this competition—cementing their dominance at under-18 level with a convincing 5-2 aggregate victory over Manchester City—Jose Mourinho was busy lamenting Cesc Fabregas’ exclusion from the PFA Team of the Year.

"The season Fabregas is doing, the number of assists and quality of his game […] not to be there is a bit strange," said the Chelsea boss.

"And I think that team wouldn’t win the Premier League. Because that team is four defenders, [Nemanja] Matic and only five to attack. So it’s a team without any balance.

"The team is missing a midfield player, and I think that midfield player should be Fabregas."

Mourinho’s point was a clear one, that the PFA’s fantasy team may look good on paper, but in reality, who would be filling in that gaping hole between attack and defence?

Julian Finney/Getty Images

The balance comes when a player such as Fabregas is on hand to supply all that talent ahead of him—talent that included his Chelsea teammates Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.

It's about one complementing the other.

Fabregas is one of the reasons Chelsea have been so tantalising in attack this season. Before the “boring,boring” chants, Chelsea were irresistible, outscoring and outperforming every team in the Premier League.

It’s been more pragmatic of late, but that’s been more out of necessity with the title closing in. As we saw against Arsenal, when Chelsea carved out the best openings, the craft is still very much there.

Against Manchester City's under-18s on Monday, we saw Chelsea’s youngsters perform in the same spirit as Mourinho’s seniors had in the first half of the campaign.

Led by the impressive figure of their coach Joe Edwards, they may have gone 1-0 down on the night, but they controlled this game for the 90 minutes. Indeed, over the course of both legs, they bossed City from start to finish.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

At the heart of it all was Colkett. Like Fabregas, he was the link man that made it all happen, the type of player that so frustrated Mourinho for not being included in that PFA team.

The 18-year-old was exceptional at Stamford Bridge, taking this game by the scruff of the neck to dictate the pace and flow. Chelsea played on the front foot, looked assured and above all else, controlled.

Jeremie Boga was a threat in the No. 10 role, Izzy Brown found himself on the scoresheet in another final, while Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham teased the City defence.

Playing deeper than we’re used to seeing him, Charly Musonda was also a livewire in the pivot. His energy made him stand out, yet Colkett’s subtlety was the key to Chelsea’s impressive performance as they won the game 2-1 on the night.

Those mentioned before him are the players grabbing the headlines in west London right now. It’s because of the goals they score, the moments of sheer brilliance that got the 10,000-strong Stamford Bridge crowd off their feet.

But it’s Colkett we should be talking about.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

"That’s what I love doing," he told Bleacher Report shortly after captaining Chelsea to glory. "I love trying to pull strings and we had an amazing night tonight."

Colkett isn’t a player who operates on instinct, which is probably the best compliment he can be given.

There is a method behind everything he does, an attribute that bodes well for the future.

It’s a very un-English quality. He isn’t out there in the middle running around and looking busy; Colkett is watching the game play out before him, reading situations and calculating the best options.

He has the brain of a player well beyond his years; he’s mature, considered.

As he explained, it’s an approach heavily influenced from those he has studied in Italian football and, of course, the presence of Fabregas at Chelsea.

"The way they control the game and dictate the tempo of a game is what I like to do and that’s what I try to do when I’m playing.

"I see [Fabregas] first-hand when I train with the first-team and I’m learning from these top-class players, taking what I can.

"They show me what I need to be doing every day. You see how good [Fabregas] is on the ball and how he’s adapted to the defensive side, which Jose Mourinho likes a lot. That’s what I’m trying to do, which is to learn from that.

Ian Walton/Getty Images

"I have a lot of ambition and hopefully I can push toward the first team and try to be that player that breaks the mould, getting the opportunities.”

Breaking the mould Colkett already is. His words aren’t influenced with the excitement of having just won a major trophy at youth level; they’re the words of a youngster determined to translate his junior promise into something a whole lot more.

When he speaks, Colkett’s as considered as he is when playing. Opposition players charging at him or group of journalists throwing dictation machines under his nose, it doesn't matter.

He doesn’t sound like your typical youth player, neither does he play like one, which is a major feather in Chelsea’s cap.

"

.@OfficialColkz lifts the FA Youth Cup for #CFC. Dominant performance from him and his teammates. Much deserved. pic.twitter.com/e7FQGSyqt5

— Garry Hayes (@garryhayes) April 27, 2015"

Mourinho’s philosophy remains the same as the day when he first stepped foot inside Stamford Bridge. A decade ago he was about winning and doing it with a physical dominance that would overwhelm his opponents.

Chelsea still have that in abundance, yet the manager is going soft in his old age. There’s room for Fabregas now to turn that substance into style and by that measure, there’s a place for Colkett at the club.

He has so many hurdles to negotiate before he can match his more senior teammate, yet Colkett is already hinting that he has the capabilities to go some way to emulating him.

Now it’s about putting it into action.

Forget the hype, the headlines and names; just remember Colkett's. This kid has got it.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes