Chelsea: Meet Enzo Maresca's 'chosen one' Reggie Walsh

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca believes his record-breaking midfielder Reggie Walsh is special.

Having had an accomplished career in the position himself, the Italian has plucked this youngster out of Chelsea's academy and his GCSE year at school, to allow him to become the club's third youngest ever player.

Walsh turned 17 on Monday and on Wednesday came on for Romeo Lavia in the 65th minute against Ajax, becoming the second youngest Englishman, behind only former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, to play in the Champions League.

Of course, this was part of a dominant 5-1 win at home to a dismal Ajax side but this latest 29-minute cameo saw Walsh also become Chelsea's youngest player in Europe's top tier competition - breaking the 11-year record previously held by Dominic Solanke, now at Spurs.

Speaking in September, Maresca explained why he is such a fan of Walsh: "I like all the academy guys but Reggie is the one I like more than the rest.

"I like Reggie because he is doing things that I'm demanding to the other players, but he is doing those things without me asking him to do that. I don't need to ask him to do something. What he's doing is already what I want from that player."

On Wednesday, when told that he ended the match with a team that averaged just 20.6 years of age, Maresca said: "It was almost like an Under-21s team, we hope we can give Reggie some more chances."

Walsh was making his fourth appearance for Chelsea having already broken a host of other records.

He was already Chelsea's youngest player to play in Europe when appearing at Djurgardens last season in the Conference League, aged 16 years and 193 days.

He also became the club's third youngest player, behind only midfielder Ian Hamilton and goalkeeper Kingsley Whiffen - who made their debuts in 1967.

One week later, he became the youngest player to start a European match for Chelsea when facing Djurgardens in the second leg.

And he is also Chelsea's youngest player to play in the League Cup, having played against Lincoln in the third round last month aged 16 years and 338 days.

Such was the surprise that Walsh was called up into Chelsea's first team at the end of last season, his family hadn't anticipated him making his debut in Sweden.

Fortunately, they got to see him start one week later with the Blues having built a commanding 4–1 first leg lead away from home, to win 1–0 in the second leg.

Walsh, a technical, deep-lying play-maker with a good engine and great vision, only signed his first professional contract on Monday.

He counts pundit and former Spurs and Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp as a family friend and is also an England Under-18s international.

Still, it was surprising when Maresca plucked him from the Under-18s - given he had made just two appearances for the Under-21s when making his debut last season.

Maresca previously said "he makes everything [look so] easy", adding that he was "perfect" for "his system", and he showed just that against 10-man Ajax.

Walsh completed 18 of his 19 passes on Wednesday, with 16 of them being in Ajax's final third. He also won possession twice through two interceptions.

In short, Walsh is the chosen one by Maresca and could be next off the production line at Cobham.

Walsh highlights Chelsea's vision for the future but also the ghosts of the recent past.

Against Ajax, Chelsea gave minutes to 10 players aged 21 or younger, having not played a player over the age of 28 since the beginning of last season.

Chelsea broke several other records on Wednesday, including:

Marc Guiu, 19, becoming Chelsea's youngest Champions League scorer

This was broken 33 minutes later when Estevao Willian, 18, scored a penalty

Chelsea also became the first team in Champions League history to have three teenage scorers when academy product Tyrique George scored just after half-time

Jamie Gittens is the youngest Chelsea player on record (since 2003/04) to create five or more chances in a Champions League match (21 years and 75 days), a record previously held by Eden Hazard, having also provided an assist.

Brazil international Estevao continues to impress after joining the Blues this summer.

The forward was last week one of three Chelsea players nominated for the Golden Boy award, which recognises the standout young players across the European game - along with Jorrel Hato, Mamadou Sarr.

And, after Hato described him as one of the best teenagers in football after Lamine Yamal, Maresca was full of praise for his display.

He said: "I feel very lucky to be his manager. The fans pay tickets to see players like Cole (Palmer) and Estevao.

"He's very humble and polite, wants to work hard. He has fantastic family who are very close to him. He's a special player but we don't have to be worried that he thinks he knows how good he is. He's a very simple guy.

"It's a special night for the club and its young players."

The Blues are the youngest team in the Premier League and are among the youngest teams in Europe's top five leagues, coming second behind only sister club Strasbourg last season, which is under the same BlueCo American ownership.

Chelsea's strategy, which sometimes faces criticism, is by design and one they believe will lead to greater success in the long-term, having already won the Conference League and Club World Cup last season.

Despite that, signing so many young players can send the wrong message to the club's famed academy and there is a delicate balance to be struck.

Chelsea were horrified when they lost attacker Rio Ngumoha to Liverpool in 2024 and vowed it would never happen again.

Since then, Maresca gave a record eight academy players their debuts last season, albeit against lesser competition in the Conference League.

In addition to Walsh, older academy graduates George and Josh Acheampong, both 19, have been given full-time first-team roles.

Meanwhile, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, 16, was on the bench against Ajax for the first time and is among an exciting future generation.

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