Chelsea's Charlie Colkett: A Thinking Man's Footballer Making Big Strides

Read Charlie Colkett's social media pages, and the bios remain close to identical; the Chelsea youngster is pushing the same message. "Graft n stay humble" it reads on Twitter with an emoji of hands praying to the heavens. His Instagram account says something similar.

In two short sentences, it sums up what the midfielder is all about. The sentiment isn't just good public relations; speak to him, and you get a feeling for a player who is determined to make his way in football on the back of those simple, yet endearing qualities.

Colkett is eloquent and polite; he makes you forget that standing in front of you is a player capable of achieving his lofty ambitions in the game. Added to his desire to work hard for his rewards, he's a supremely talented player, and he's been showing it while on loan at Bristol Rovers from Chelsea this term.

Indeed, for those who weren't already familiar with his talents, Colkett's name became familiar last month when he sent the internet into meltdown with a back flick against MK Dons that helped drag Rovers back into contention in a game they were losing 3-1 with three minutes remaining.

On the edge of the opposition box, Colkett watched on as the ball spun in the air from a clearance. Before it came back down, he checked his shoulder to see a team-mate in space, pulling off an audacious bit of skill by executing a perfectly weighted pass with his back to play that was then crossed for Matty Taylor to tap into an empty net. It was a sumptuous way to inspire the comeback that saw Rovers eventually draw 3-3.

But ask Colkett about it and he more or less shrugs it off as just another one of those things, as though it were nothing.

"The flick against MK Dons was decent," he tells Bleacher Report, almost downplaying it. There's a chuckle that follows, but we get the impression he's embarrassed that we brought it up.

It's an understatement when he adds: "I'm full of confidence, and I've done well to break into the side, affecting the game here and there, where I could. I've earned my start and made the most of that. It's a confidence thing and about having the right mentality."

The right mentality—it's a turn of phrase that comes up again and again. We're sitting in the stands of Millwall's New Den, and Bristol Rovers have just lost 4-0 to the London club.

Colkett is as disappointed as the rest of his team-mates, although he has licence to be even more so. With only 20 minutes gone in the game, an early red card for Daniel Leadbitter meant the Chelsea loanee was sacrificed in the name of tactics.

On a cold, drizzly day in south London, manager Darrell Clarke opted to shut up shop by bringing Mark McChrystal—a defender—on in an attempt to keep the game tight. It didn't work, as the scoreline would attest. But rather than show frustration at how the game panned out for him personally, Colkett is more pragmatic about it.

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Charlie Colkett also scored today, and here is his 90+2 min winning goal for Bristol Rovers against Northampton pic.twitter.com/p3sUU9zik8

— Chelsea Videos (@chelslatest) October 1, 2016"

"Someone had to be sacrificed and I understand the reasons behind it," he says. It's a response that is unusual, especially for a player so young and inexperienced in the senior game.

Colkett is in Bristol to earn himself minutes on the pitch, but problems elsewhere have hindered him at times, as they did in the game at Millwall. Where most would allow themselves to be despondent, the 20-year-old's view demonstrates maturity. It echoes the sentiment from his social media bios; it shows us there's an intelligence that lies beneath the surface.

Given his attributes, moving to Bristol Rovers this season seemed an odd fit for Colkett. This is League One, and football convention tell us that actual footballers aren't supposed to excel this low down the pyramid. We hear the horror stories about boggy pitches and the long-ball game; for a player who likes to play the game, it must have been a big risk, regardless of Clarke's desire for his team to buck the trend of styles.

"Yeah, it was a risk," Colkett admits. "A lot of people gave me their input on the move, saying that I don't play like a League One player, but I think it's important to add certain aspects to my game. I've come here, I've scored some goals and got some assists, so I think I can do that side of the game and then implement what I'm here to do. I think I've been doing very well.

"I thought about it for a few days [before joining], as well as other things, but I came where I thought I was going to gain minutes. Coming on loan is what you make of it and racking up the minutes, which is what I'm doing."

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Charlie Colkett scores a brace for Bristol Rovers in 2-0 away win against Oldham #CFC pic.twitter.com/laZVYiA2J0

— Chelsea Videos (@chelslatest) October 22, 2016"

It hasn't been easy. As well as being sacrificed at times, Colkett has had to meet a challenge that few other players in League One face—he's been a target simply because of who his parent club is.

Now 20, the midfield man has been a Chelsea player for eight years. Having travelled up to Liverpool in his youth, while also touring the facilities at his local club, West Ham United, he settled on the Blues as a 12-year-old. It's been in the comfortable surroundings of Cobham in the Surrey countryside where he has continued his education ever since.

Chelsea's training facility is a world away from Rovers' Memorial Ground. The stadium is unique in the English game, with its multiple stands combining to create one of the Football League's most unique venues. It has its charms, but Stamford Bridge it isn't.

The Memorial Ground is a reminder that, much like Colkett, Bristol Rovers are striving to achieve something more than they already have. Rival clubs want to stop them in their tracks, and where Colkett is concerned, opponents want to ensure he experiences "real" football away from the comfort of the development game, where he won everything as a player.

Colkett captained Chelsea to UEFA Youth League success last season, adding to the winners' medals he has picked up in the FA Youth Cup as the Blues dominated. Moving on loan has been the next stage of his progression.

Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images

"It was the right time to go on loan. There were quite a few offers on the table, but Bristol Rovers work closely with [Chelsea technical director] Michael Emenalo, so he had a big input, and it's worked out well for me so far," he continues.

"Having Jake [Clarke-Salter] here definitely helps. Jake had mentioned to me previously that he may be joining Bristol Rovers on loan before I moved. It's great to have him in the team, to have someone around that I get on well with and that I have played with before."

Mention of his Chelsea youth team-mate, Clarke-Salter, moves the conversation on to another Blues starlet who has been making headlines in Bristol this term. Tammy Abraham has been doing it in red, though, for the team Rovers officials politely refer to as the "other club." It's Bristol City, of course, and Colkett's found himself getting caught up in the rivalry.

"You can't help but get drawn into it a little bit," he explains to us. "I've heard that it's massive and we're hoping we can run into them in the FA Cup. That would be interesting!

"We've gone out for dinner with Tammy a few times. Jake and I nicked a goal each on the same weekend [against Oldham Athletic in October], so we made sure we went out with him that night and gave him a bit of stick. He's been racking up the goals himself, and it's nice to have him around as well."

Ultimately, the end game for the majority of Chelsea's loan players—there are 38 this season—is to end up back at the club and eventually in the senior team. Reality tells us it's going to be difficult for them all to become Chelsea players in the long term, something that Colkett also concedes.

"We've won Youth Cups over the years and the UEFA Youth League," he says. "When I was in the first year of the UEFA Youth League, the team we had then, I don't think that competition will ever see a team like it. Football is not as easy as that, though. If it was, everyone would be playing for their first teams.

"You've just got to keep going, grafting away and chasing your dream. It's why I think this loan move is great; you've got to get out and show everyone what you're about.

"The goal is the same: to keep pushing on and on, to keep progressing every year. Hopefully one year, us boys will end up together at the top because it'll be a good story."

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.