Reggie Walsh went into the Chelsea history books this week after making his first-team debut.
On Thursday night, Chelsea produced an impressive display to beat Swedish club Djurgarden 4-1 away from home in the first leg of a Conference League semi-final.
The European tie will be something Blues prospect Reggie Walsh, who’s only 16 years old, will never forget.
When the teenage midfielder came off the bench late on against Djurgarden to make his senior debut, he became the third youngest player to represent Chelsea. He nearly scored with his first touch too, but his powerful shot from distance was saved.
It’s another proud moment for the Blues academy to see Walsh, who’s been a key player in the club’s Under-18s team this season, feature for the first team at such a young age.
Following the Djurgarden win, Nicolas Jackson described Reggie Walsh as “top quality” after working alongside his much younger teammate.
Reggie Walsh breaks Dominic Solanke record at Chelsea
Walsh’s appearance was a great reminder that Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca continues to reward the club’s youngsters with opportunities. It’s certainly been the best thing about the club’s involvement in the Conference League this campaign.
With his debut, Walsh set the record of becoming the youngest Chelsea player in the club’s history to play in a European match.
He’s destroyed the record that was held by former Blues academy graduate Dominic Solanke, who’s now the star striker at Tottenham.
If the Blues are back in the Champions League next season, which is where they’re aiming to be, we doubt Maresca will be able to blood academy prospects so easily.
Now that Walsh has had a brief taste of a first-team environment, we suspect it’ll make the youngster even hungrier for success. He should definitely take inspiration from Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong, who were both promoted from the academy to the senior group midway through this season.
Enzo Maresca helped keep Josh Acheampong at the club, so the job he’s doing in promoting youth deserves huge credit.
What Enzo Maresca said about Reggie Walsh
Maresca delivered a glowing verdict on Chelsea’s rising star Walsh straight after handing him his first-team debut against Djurgarden.
Speaking via Chelsea’s official website, Maresca said: “To be honest it’s already a long time that I have felt excited to give him his debut chance because he’s so good. He’s very young but in the way we want to play, in our style, he’s perfect.
“But he’s still very young, he needs to learn, he needs to work hard and he needs to grow for sure. But we are happy. We have given eight debuts this season from the academy, I think it’s good.
“My message to him was just to enjoy the moment, be happy, play the way he is training with us every day, because in some days this season he’s worked with us and he’s so good because he makes everything easy. But he’s still very young and he needs to continue to work.”
It certainly sounds like the English midfielder still has a very bright future ahead of him. However, it’s worth remembering that he’s still not old enough to sign a professional contract, so Chelsea fans may need to be patient with him.
