Chelsea are missing 14 first team players from tonight’s London derby clash with rivals Tottenham, leaving manager Mauricio Pochettino no choice but to continue selecting youth players to fill out his matchday squads.
It’s something the Argentinian has had to do throughout the season, with the likes of Alfie Gilchrist stepping up to replace injured right-backs Malo Gusto and Reece James, while midfielders Leo Castledine and Michael Golding have made cameo appearances in the FA Cup this season. Now over the past few weeks, Tyrique George has been another name on the matchday squad list that is patiently waiting for his own opportunity to make his first-team debut.
Ahead of the clash against Spurs this evening, Blues boss Pochettino declared he will be without two key players, claiming: “No good news because we cannot recover any players from the list but have added Thiago [Silva] and [Axel] Disasi. They will not be available for tomorrow.”
Continuing when asked why his side are suffering so many problems with injuries, the 52-year-old admitted: “I need to be honest, all I can say is it is a new process, a new institute, we can do better of course We all feel responsibility. Then it is circumstances that happen and it is difficult to explain with sentences. We are working in trying to improve.
With that being said, football.london has profiled George to see what he could offer the Blues if he comes off the bench tonight…
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Tyrique George in profile
George has been in the Chelsea youth academy since 2014 and has consistently progressed up the age groups with each passing year. The 17-year-old winger was a huge part of the Under-18s side under both Ed Brand and Hassan Sulaiman last season, making 18 starts in 28 appearances across all competitions.
Despite only finding six goal contributions last year, this season has been a different story, with the exciting winger notching his ninth goal of the club’s U-18 Premier League campaign just two weeks ago. On top of that, he’s found the back of the net in the FA Youth Cup twice, as well as three more goals in the Premier League 2 for the U-21s bringing his tally of goal contributions on the season to 19 in 29 matches – 14 of which are goals.
His impressive displays have caught the eye of Pochettino, who has now included him in the matchday squad for tonight’s clash, with the starlet having previously been on the bench for the 6-0 win over Everton and the 2-2 draw against Aston Villa last weekend. He’s also represented England at U-16, U-17 and U-18 level and was part of the Val de Marne winning squad in 2022.
George was also one of the players who was selected in the England Under-17s side that competed at the 2023 U-17s European Championship last summer.
