5 Chelsea Youngsters Who Could Taste 1st-Team Action in 2015/16 Season
The focus on Chelsea's academy has reached new heights.
The Blues are back-to-back FA Youth Cup winners, and they also lifted the UEFA Youth League trophy last season to translate their domestic dominance to the continent.
We're also beginning see some of those promising youngsters find their way into Jose Mourinho's first-team plans.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be a big part of the Chelsea senior squad next season, while the likes of Izzy Brown, Dominic Solanke and Andreas Christensen all made their senior debuts for the team in the past year.
We know plenty about these players, but what about the others?
Bleacher Report picks out five Chelsea youngsters who could follow in their footsteps during the 2015/16 season.
Charlie Colkett
1 of 5
Following his excellent display in the FA Youth Cup final against Manchester City, Bleacher Report dubbed Charlie Colkett as the best kept secret at Stamford Bridge.
Nothing has since changed our minds, and given his heavy presence during Chelsea's post-season tour, Jose Mourinho seems equally impressed.
Colkett is like the Cesc Fabregas of the Chelsea development team. He gets things moving from midfield, demonstrating an exceptional ability with the ball at his feet.
The Londoner has excellent vision, can pick a pass and doesn't play with fear. He has a cool head on his young shoulders.
It's players of Colkett's ilk that Chelsea are looking to in order to bring an extra edge to their game. As he continues to mature, Mourinho will have more than an eye on him.
After dominating at youth-team level, his natural progression would be to make a mark on the senior team.
Jeremie Boga
2 of 5
Jeremie Boga featured on the bench for Chelsea near the end of the season, and had it not been for a shock defeat to West Bromwich Albion, he may well have made his debut.
The French midfielder is one of the most exciting youngsters at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho will like him too, as he's very much a Mourinho player.
Boga is skillful, plays direct and can create goals as well as score them. A bonus is his physicality—Boga has a stocky frame that allows him to bounce of defenders, rarely being bullied by his opposite number.
It's a significant advantage, given how physical the Premier League can be.
Boga certainly seems cut out for senior football.
Tammy Abraham
3 of 5
While Dominic Solanke was making the headlines for forcing his way into Jose Mourinho's first-team squad, Tammy Abraham was busy doing what Solanke had done before him: scoring goals.
And plenty of them.
Abraham fired home 41 goals for Chelsea's development teams last season—just three of which came from the penalty spot.
With form like that, it's hard to go unnoticed, and Abraham is making big noises at Chelsea.
He's still only 17 years old, so he has a long way to go before we can expect to see him regularly lining up for the Chelsea first team.
If he carries his goalscoring form into 2015/16, however, expect to see him floating around Mourinho's senior squad.
Jay Dasilva
4 of 5
He may be small in size, but Jay Dasilva certainly has a big status.
The left-back has been a big part of Chelsea's success at youth level these past few seasons, and he's been showing exactly how good a player he could become.
Comparisons with Ashley Cole were always going to happen, yet Dasilva is certainly living up to that billing in the junior ranks.
He's talented as a defender, but even more encouraging is the threat he can pose in attack.
Watching him control the left flank is a common occurrence in Chelsea youth matches. He so often dominates the opposition attacker and, at the same time, gives a headache to his opposite number on the right.
Dasilva is an exciting defender, and given Chelsea's need to find a permanent solution on the left side of defence—Cesar Azpilicueta continues to play out of position because Filipe Luis hasn't totally convinced—he'll be confident of getting some game time in the cups next season.
Charly Musonda
5 of 5
It's players such as Charly Musonda who have helped feed the hype surrounding the Chelsea academy.
The young Belgian is an exceptional talent, as he showed for much of 2014/15.
Like Jeremie Boga before him, Musonda is a massive threat in attack, and using his pace intelligently, he skips past defenders to leave them in his wake.
He comes with a big reputation, and now that he's approaching his 19th birthday, we can expect Musonda be elevated from the youth team to the senior squad soon.
The Brussels-born midfielder is too talented to continue playing in the development squads.
After Chelsea's FA Youth Cup success in April, Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe suggested Musonda is indeed the Blues' most exciting prospect.
Big things await.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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