Jude Soonsup-bell reportedly has no intention of dropping his Chelsea dream any time soon.
According to The Athletic, the teenager is not interested in leaving the Blues, despite receiving interest from several rival suitors.
Cobham can be cruel or kind
Soonsup-bell wouldn’t be lamented for wanting to change Stamford Bridge for a new piece of scenery.
Seeing the likes of Tino Livramento and Marc Guehi depart the junior set-up to join Premier League clubs must be a great incentive to other emerging talents to do the same.
Also, the number of youth players that left Cobham over the summer suggested more might follow suit in the future.
Plus, the sales of Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori told a story of the change in attitude towards academy stars in the first team.
However, there is still a genuine path to the senior squad for Soonsup-bell and several of his young comrades.
This was evident yesterday when Thomas Tuchel handed three Under-23s their competitive Chelsea debut against Brentford in the Carabao Cup.
Harvey Vale and Xavier Simons started alongside Soonsup-bell, who had recovered from a bout of flu just in time for his big breakthrough.
A bright career for Soonsup-bell beckons
Hopefully, this is just the beginning of the 17-year-old’s journey with the Blues.
Having scored 19 goals last season and five already in 2021/22, there is clearly a centre-forward just waiting to fill his boots.
He signed a new contract in January, keeping him in South West London until 2023.
Not long after committing to a fresh deal, the attacker was called up to train with Frank Lampard’s men.
Jude the jewel
Clearly, the chain of command and the people on the ground rate the striker extremely highly, and why wouldn’t they with the quality he has to offer?
“He is athletic, as a No.9 should be, and he is quite tall and quick. But, for me, his best attribute is his intelligence both on and off the ball. He has the brain for the sport, with composure on the ball,” said Zac, Soonsup-bells older brother.
It would be unwise for Chelsea supporters to get too ahead of themselves in regards to their treasured starlet.
After all, they’ve walked down this path before and been left disappointed by the final result.
But, for now, fans deserve to feel optimistic about the club’s future heroes.