Reggie Walsh made his first senior start on Thursday night as Chelsea booked their spot in the Conference League final.
Chelsea recorded a 1-0 home win against Swedish club Djurgarden in the second leg of a Conference League semi-final, giving them a 5-1 aggregate success.
Even though it was a pretty dull contest, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall did score the game’s only goal with a clever left-footed finish in the first half.
The biggest story of the night was seeing Reggie Walsh, aged 16, making his maiden start in the first team. It comes just a week after he made his senior debut against Djurgarden in the first leg.
Reggie Walsh broke Dominic Solanke’s record in the first leg by becoming Chelsea’s youngest appearance maker in Europe. He’s now followed that up with a start and 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea fans compare Reggie Walsh to Billy Gilmour
Chelsea supporters on social media were super impressed by Walsh’s performance as an advanced midfielder versus Djurgarden.
In particular, many fans on X compared the teenage prospect to former Blues player Billy Gilmour.
One fan wrote: “This kid Reggie Walsh reminds me of one young Billy Gilmour.”
“Watching young Walsh reminds me of young Billy Gilmour. I enjoyed watching him throughout the first 45mins,” another posted.
One supporter claimed: “Walsh moving like Gilmour.”
“Walsh is giving Billy Gilmour vibe. He has potential,” another said.
Gilmour, who was on Chelsea’s books between 2017 and 2019, played 22 first-team games for the club. Eventually, the Scottish midfielder was sold to Brighton in a £9m deal (Sky Sports). Now, he’s on the verge of winning Serie A as a Napoli player.
There was certainly a lot of excitement around Chelsea when an 18-year-old Gilmour made his debut for them.
Like Gilmour, Walsh is diminutive in size but very comfortable with the ball at his feet. He certainly didn’t look overawed against Djurgarden as he starred in an advanced midfield role.
Back in March, Reggie Walsh was spotted training with Chelsea’s first team. If you fast forward less than two months, he’s now made two senior appearances and is under the spotlight.
What Enzo Maresca said about Reggie Walsh pre-match
During his pre-match interview for Chelsea’s second leg against Djurgarden, Blues head coach Enzo Maresca discussed the inclusion of Walsh in the starting line-up.
Maresca said via BBC Sport: “He is a talent. Very good. His technique is fantastic. I really like him between the lines. You could see immediately he has something.
“For sure because he is only 17/18 he still needs to work hard but I like the personality. He has worked with us during the season and he is not shy, he is always asking for the ball. He is shouting and talking, which I like. He’s a good player.”
The confidence that Walsh, along with other Chelsea youngsters, will take from playing in a European semi-final will be significant.
We would be surprised to see the 16-year-old rising star feature again in the final few games of the season, but he’s definitely another Cobham product to be excited about moving forward.
