Chelsea trialist names the two Blues players Joe Shields has told him he is similar to

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Chelsea co-director of recruitment and talent Joe Shields wants the Blues to be a force now and in the future.

Joe Shields, who has previously had jobs at Southampton and Manchester City, has been credited for Chelsea‘s acquisition of Cole Palmer.

Shields knew Palmer well from his time at City, and the attacking midfielder has been an absolute revelation since leaving the Premier League champions for his current club. In 55 appearances for Chelsea, Palmer has scored 31 goals and provided 20 assists.

He has now become a marked man, with Palmer believing he is being fouled more. Whatever the case, the 22-year-old will go down as one of Shields’ success stories, and there could be more to come in the future.

• READ MORE: Cole Palmer shares conversation he had with Enzo Maresca about not playing in Conference League

Sean Leighton told to watch Cole Palmer and Carney Chukwuemeka

Sean Leighton, a product of Phoenix All Stars Football Academy in Jamaica, is set to have a trial with Chelsea next month.

He was spotted by Shields after the 37-year-old made a trip to go and watch Dujuan Richards, who is now a Chelsea player.

After catching Shields’ eye, Leighton revealed that the Chelsea director personally spoke to him and recommended that he watch Palmer and Carney Chukwuemeka because of his similar build to them.

Speaking on SportsMax Zone, the teenager said: “When they [Chelsea] came, they were coming to look at Whisper [Dujuan Richards]. You know Joe Shields? He came and then he spotted me and then he had a talk with my father and then he came to me and said I must… he gave me two players to watch: Cole Palmer and Chukwuemeka.

“He said, ‘They have a similar build to you and I think you should look at how they play and build and how you play off of them’. So I think he saw something special in me.”

Carney Chukwuemeka unlikely to be at Chelsea for much longer

While Palmer has been a huge success at Chelsea, Chukwuemeka’s career in west London has just not been able to take off like his teammate’s.

That has partly been down to injury, but the midfielder is fit again and available. Yet he has constantly been overlooked by Maresca this season, making an exit now seem inevitable at this point.

It has been claimed that AC Milan are trying to persuade Chukwuemeka to join them. Having made just one appearance under Maresca in the current campaign, which came in the Carabao Cup, it seems likely that the 21-year-old will push for a move to Milan or another club in January.