5 Chelsea academy players who could break into the first team next season

#2 Armando Broja

Chelsea v Huddersfield Town - FA Youth Cup

The Chelsea academy has produced several talented attackers over the years. However, with their being no pathway into the first team before this season, they would usually depart in search of playing opportunities. When both Dominic Solanke and Patrick Bamford left the club in 2017, fans lost all hope of seeing an academy graduate leading the line for the Blues. That was until this season, when Frank Lampard arrived and instated Tammy Abraham as the first-choice striker.

Lampard's arrival has had a positive effect on the youth players, with several of them now committing their futures to the club after seeing a pathway into the first-team. Armando Broja is one such player, with the talented forward expected to follow Abraham's path into the senior squad.

The 18-year-old striker has led the line for both the Under-18s and Under-23s this season, scoring a total of eighteen goals in the process. Five assists have brought his goal contributions to twenty-three in thirty, making him a frontrunner for end-of-the-year academy award.

Broja could very likely make a first-team appearance before the end of the current campaign, having already trained with the senior squad on several occasions. The Albania youth international could also find himself on the periphery of Frank Lampard's squad next season, thanks to the coach's youth-oriented policy coupled with the uncertain futures of Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud.