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AC Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Where are they now? Chelsea’s XI of future stars from the 2014 FA Youth Cup final

Ben Stewart •

Chelsea have produced some gems over the years and their youth ranks were absolutely stacked around the time of the 2014 FA Youth Cup final.

The FA Youth Cup final was contested between Chelsea and Fulham in 2014 and the Blues managed to trump their London rivals with a thrilling 7-6 victory on aggregate.

We’ve gone back and taken a look at Chelsea’s starting XI from the second leg of the final against Fulham and have checked out what they are up to these days.

GK: Mitchell Beeney

The towering goalkeeper spent a total of 11 years with Chelsea but never managed to make a senior appearance. After leaving the club in 2018, he crafted a career for himself in Ireland and the lower leagues of English football.

Now 28, Beeney currently plays for Dartford in the National League South. The non-league outfit currently find themselves 12th in the league and four points away from the playoffs.

RB: Fankaty Dabo

Like Beeney, Dabo never make the cut for Chelsea’s senior squad. The attacking full-back enjoyed the best stint of his career with Coventry as he racked up over 100 appearances for the Sky Blues.

Dabo was a whisker away from making it to the Premier League with Coventry, but he missed the decisive penalty which lost them the shootout against Luton Town in the playoff final. The 28-year-old was released by Coventry in the summer and was then picked up by League Two outfit Forest Green Rovers.

CB: Andreas Christensen

It wasn’t long after the FA Youth Cup final that Christensen was handed his Chelsea debut. There were some doubts about the Danish defender in his younger years, but he soon matured into a dependable character.

Christensen was probably at his best at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel and he managed to earn himself a move to Barcelona on the back of his impressive form.

Earlier this year Xavi was asked if Christensen was one of Barcelona’s best signings in recent years, to which he replied: “Yes. From this season and in recent years, definitely.

“Extraordinary. How he filters balls, how he divides the opposition, how he defends, how he understands the third man… he could be a midfielder playing at the back.”

CB: Jake Clarke-Salter (Ola Aina, ’46)

Clarke-Salter managed three senior appearances for the Blues, but he spent the vast majority of his time at the club out on loan. The centre-half spent a total of six seasons out on loan before he departed on a permanent basis last year.

He penned a four-year deal with Championship outfit QPR in the summer of 2022 and still plays for them today. The defender has had his fair share of injuries over the years but has generally been a good defender in the Championship.

Aina has also forged a career for himself away from Stamford Bridge and after some successful years with Torino, he made his return to the Premier League in the summer by signing for Nottingham Forest.

LB: Jay Dasilva

The Chelsea youth product has spent the majority of his career in the Championship with Bristol City, but he made the switch to Coventry over the summer.

Dasilva has been a consistent performer in the Championship for quite some time now as he has 149 appearances in the second tier. Being just 25 years old, he still has the best years of his career ahead of him.

CM: Jordan Houghton

Following four loan spells away from Chelsea, Houghton made his permanent exit in 2018 to pen a deal with MK Dons. The holding midfielder impressed during his three-year stay at Stadium MK and earned himself a move to Plymouth Argyle.

He’s done well for himself with Argyle as he featured in the vast majority of matches during their promotion season from League One in 2022-23. Houghton has since established himself as a solid performer in the Championship and is playing some of the best football of his career right now.

CM: Kasey Palmer (Isak Ssewankambo, ’46)

Palmer has crafted a decent career for himself in the Championship since leaving Chelsea on a permanent basis in 2019. In fact, he’s followed the same path as Dasilva by playing for Bristol City before then joining Coventry.

Throughout Palmer’s time in the Championship, he has often been utilised as an impact sub, with a large portion of his appearances coming from the bench.

In terms of Ssewankambo, he left Chelsea shortly after the FA Youth Cup final in search of regular first team football. After spells with Molde, Ostersund and Sirius he joined Swedish side IFK Norrkoping last month.

CM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Isaiah Brown, ’46)

Of all the Chelsea youngsters to make an appearance in the 2014 FA Youth Cup final, Loftus-Cheek probably went on to have the largest impact on the first team. The midfielder racked up over 150 appearances for Chelsea and got his hands on three trophies during his time with the club.

He also spent spells out on loan with Fulham and Crystal Palace and in the summer he finally called it quits on his Chelsea career to join AC Milan. He’s made a good impact in Italy too as the 27-year-old has impressed for Stefano Pioli’s side early on.

There was plenty of hype surrounding Brown back in the day as the attacking midfielder seemingly had a bright future ahead of him. However, injuries massively hampered his career and he was forced to retire earlier this year due to injury issues.

RW: Charlie Colkett

Colkett left Chelsea in 2019 in search of regular first team football and ended up joining Swedish outfit Ostersunds. The move seemingly did his career the world of good as he racked up 68 appearances during his three years with the club which aided his development.

He has since returned to English football and you can now find him in League Two for Crewe Alexandra. However, the 27-year-old has missed the majority of the season through injury.

ST: Dominic Solanke

Solanke made just one senior appearance for Chelsea before he left for Liverpool in 2017. While the striker spent his entire youth career with the Blues, it was probably Liverpool who benefited most from the forward as they made £19million on him when he was sold to Bournemouth in 2019.

Despite enduring a slow start with the Cherries, Solanke is now one of the first names on the teamsheet. He fired them to promotion in 2021–22 by scoring 29 goals and he’s since established himself as a solid performer in the Premier League.

LW: Charly Musonda

The hype surrounding the Belgian youngster was absolutely huge back in the day. He was handed his senior debut by Antonio Conte, but injuries then massively hampered his career progression.

Musonda opened up about his injury hell during an interview in 2020: “It’s been four years since I played back to back professional games, three years since I last played for my club, two of those last four years, I’ve been injured with the post cruciate ligament of my knee.

“Nothing but heartbreak and heartache. Doctors told me going through surgery after being out for so long would be the end, an impossible mountain to climb, we’re the exact words.

“I’ll keep climbing the insurmountable mountain everyday to run with the football once again, because there’s no better feeling than taking someone on and feeling alive.”

Musonda has since been able to land a contract with Cypriot First Division side, Anorthosis and we’ve got our fingers crossed that he manages to stay injury-free.

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