Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic claims five more youngsters could follow Ruben Loftus-Cheek in to the first team.
The 19-year-old made his first full Premier League debut during his side’s clash against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. He received a guard of honour from the Reds players after the Blues won the league title.
Loftus-Cheek was impressive during his time on the pitch and was one of the star players for the West London club against Brendan Rodgers’ side. Chelsea’s Under 18’s have won the FA Cup four times in the last six years and their Under 19’s won the UEFA Youth League this season.
Ivanovic has revealed that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is planning to hand several youngsters a chance to play in the Premier League in their last two matches of this season.
“We have a great generation of young players. They improve during training with us and they can be competitive in the team,” Ivanovic said.
“They can make our squad bigger and in the future really think about them. It’s great. It’s not just Ruben. We have five or six players who can be in our squad and it is great for the manager [Mourinho] to give them a chance to play.”
“I’m talking about Dominic Solanke, Izzy Brown, Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake — the guys who are already with us in training. In the next couple of games (West Brom and Sunderland) they will get a chance. It’s a great motivation for them.”
The Serbian international has advised the youngsters to work hard and push for a place in the first team. He believes having more youngsters come from the youth set up will be a great achievement for Chelsea.
“They’re still young, they need to fight. This is the period, the next one or two years, where they need to prove they are really good,” the defender explained.
“It’s the most difficult thing to find that balance because we are a team that want to win. But when we have the chance for young players to grow as players with us, it’s great,”
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