Where are they now? Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup winners from 2016-17

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Chelsea's Mason Mount (C) lifts the Fa Youth Cup trophy at Stamford Bridge. April 2017.

Chelsea are renowned for producing brilliant players in their academy – but what happened to the team that won the 2017 FA Youth Cup?

After drawing 1-1 in the first leg of the final against Manchester City, they secured the Youth Cup for the fourth year in a row with a 5-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

We’ve taken a look at the Chelsea Xl from that second leg to see how they’ve all fared over the last five years.

GK: Jamie Cumming

Cumming, who has been at Chelsea since he was eight years old, is yet to play for the senior side but was named on the substitute’s bench for their Europa League final victory over Arsenal in 2019.

The goalkeeper has since got some first-team experience with three solid loan spells at Stevenage, Gillingham and MK Dons.

He’s still behind Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli in the Chelsea pecking order and is spending the 2022-23 season back at MK Dons.

CB: Reece James

Here’s one you might have heard of. James spent 2018-19 on loan at Wigan Atheltic and has since established himself as a regular in Chelsea’s first team.

The defender played a key role in their Champions League win in 2020-21 when he produced a brilliant performance in the final against (ironically) Manchester City.

He is regarded as one of the best full-backs in the Premier League and is also a regular in Gareth Southgate’s England squad, so it’s fair to say he’s done pretty well for himself.

CB: Trevor Chalobah 

Chalobah is yet another example of the success of the Chelsea youth system and he has really broken onto the scene under Thomas Tuchel.

After loan spells to Ipswich, Huddersfield and Lorient, the 22-year-old scored against Crystal Palace on his Premier League debut in August 2021.

He finished the 2021-22 season with four goals in 30 appearances and is a regular in Graham Potter’s squad still. He seems to have finally found his place at Stamford Bridge.

CB: Marc Guehi

Is it really any surprise Chelsea won 6-2 over two legs with this impressive backline?

Guehi made just two appearances for Chelsea’s first team but joined Crystal Palace in an £18 million deal in 2021 after impressing on loan at Swansea.

The youngster enjoyed a brilliant debut season at Palace and also made his senior England debut in March 2022. We wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea are already regretting this sale.

RWB: Dujon Sterling

Sterling made two first-team appearances under Antonio Conte in 2017-18 before going out on loan to Coventry Cty and Wigan. 

During his time at Wigan, he suffered from an illness that threatened his career and spent almost the entirety of 2020 on the sidelines.

The right-back has since made a made full recovery and enjoyed an impressive loan spell at Blackpool in 2021-22, making 25 appearances in all competitions.

He’s currently playing out the campaign on loan at Stoke City in the Championship.

CM: Tariq Uwakwe (George McEachran, 80)

Despite impressing for Chelsea’s reserve sides, Uwakwe never featured for their first team and joined Crewe Alexandra on a permanent deal in January 2022.

The midfielder only made eight appearances for the club in the second half of 2021-22 due to a knee injury and couldn’t prevent their relegation to League Two.

McEachran was a regular for Chelsea’s Under-23s in 2021-22 but didn’t do enough to earn a new contract and left Stamford Bridge on a free transfer. He’s yet to find another club.

CM: Jacob Maddox

After loan spells at Cheltenham Town, Tranmere Rovers and Southampton’s Under-23s, Maddox joined Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes on a permanent deal in 2020.

He made six first-team appearances in 2020-21 before making a temporary return to England, joining Burton Albion on a season-long loan deal in 2021.

But Maddox failed to establish himself as a regular in the side and registered just one assist in 16 League One appearances in 2021-22.

LWB: Juan Castillo 

Since winning the FA Youth Cup in 2017, Castillo has returned to his native Netherlands for loan spells with Jong Ajax, AZ Alkmaar and ADO Den Haag.

He remained in England for the 2021-22 season and spent time at Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic, but the left-back made just eight first-team appearances across his two moves.

RW: Callum Hudson-Odoi (Cole DaSilva, 83)

Hudson-Odoi was regarded as the star of this brilliant Chelsea team and made his first-team debut at the age of 17 in January 2018.

He’s since passed 120 appearances in a Chelsea shirt and has had plenty of ups and downs, scoring some great goals but performing poorly at times.

The winger is spending the current campaign at Bayer Leverkusen as he looks to regain his spark. 

Brother of Bristol City player Jay DaSilva, Cole left Chelsea in 2018 for Brentford and later had a brief stint with Leicester City’s Under-23s.

After making six appearances for Croatian side HNK Sibenik, he joined National League South team Oxford City in March 2022.

ST: Ike Ugbo (Martell Taylor-Crossdale, 77)

After scoring in the 2017 FA Youth Cup final, Ugbo had loan spells at Barnsley, MK Dons, Scunthorpe United, Roda JC and Cercle Brugge. 

The Canada international was then linked with Watford in the summer of 2021 but completed a permanent move to Belgian side Genk.

He netted six goals for Genk before spending the second half of the 2021-22 season on loan at FC Troyes in Ligue 1, where he scored five goals in 14 appearances. Ugbo move there permanently last summer.

Taylor-Crossdale was released by Chelsea in 2019 and can currently be found playing for the Metropolitan Police.

LW: Mason Mount

OK, here’s another one you might have heard of.

Mount has made over 150 appearances for Chelsea, helping them win a Champions League, a Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Not bad for a 24-year-old, eh?

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