Chelsea youngster Billy Gee has explained that Mateo Kovacic is the first-team star he looks up to most at Stamford Bridge.
During an interview with Football Daily, Gee has been speaking about senior Chelsea players and mixing it with big names during first-team training.
The 17-year-old is a young midfielder developing his game in the academy with the Blues youth teams but has had some brief exposure now in training with the main group.
If you’re a rising talent at Cobham right now, you should be encouraged by the fact that Graham Potter has given opportunities to youngsters since he took charge in west London.
Yes, there’s some high-profile names joining the Blues and beefing up the squad. There should always be a genuine path from the academy into the main team, though.
Billy Gee in awe of Mateo Kovacic
Gee has given a glowing verdict on the quality of 28-year-old star Kovacic:
When asked who he looks up to at Chelsea, Gee told Football Daily: “For me at the moment, I’d say Kovacic. He just brings something different that Croatian style of play. Top player. He runs it in midfield.”
In fairness, some of Kovacic’s senior teammates are probably in awe of what he can do at times as a player.
The £40million central midfielder has shown glimpses of utter brilliance this campaign, but he’s still trying to find the consistency that makes him so instrumental in the Chelsea line-up.
Thankfully, Kovacic may be able to return on Friday when Chelsea are back in action against Fulham in the Premier League.
He missed the previous draw against Liverpool with “a little tightness in his calf”, as quoted by Potter.
Let’s hope he can hit full stride in the second half of the season and produce some magic in the midfield.
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