Former Norwich City youngster Alex Matos has made quite the impression at Chelsea and is part of Mauricio Pochettino's first-team squad after his summer move.
Matos left Norwich on a free transfer after turning down a contract extension due to frustrations over a lack of first-team involvement. The teenager elected to join Chelsea over Newcastle and Southampton.
The midfielder was on City's books since he was 11, meaning they were entitled to compensation. Norwich have inserted a 20pc future sell-on clause into the deal.
Despite being added to Chelsea as an academy player initially, Matos, 19, has been a regular member of their matchday squads, making just one appearance this season.
Ex-City youth chief Gregg Broughton has been impressed by his early progress at Stamford Bridge despite being dropped into one of the best youth set-ups around.
"Chelsea have probably the best academy in the UK, even Europe. Alex has gone in there and jumped ahead of a lot of very, very good young players," Broughton told the Athletic.
“It is not that he did not have the potential to become a Premier League player. But he has gone into probably the most competitive environment for young players in world football and held his own.”
Pochettino has been impressed by Matos' application since his switch to West London, promoting him to train with the first-team regularly.
Matos was a long-term target for Chelsea throughout his spell at Norwich - and Pochettino has explained why he has accelerated his development.
“In training, he is so smart, always watching everything, always smiling. But when he goes to compete with the first team, he is tough. He is really competitive, really strong. He kicks you and smiles at you! It is nice to have this sort of profile through the academy.
“Why is he involved? Because of his personality, his character. He is always so, so, so focused. Of course, he is a talent with potential, but he has impressed me with his focus on everything.
“There are massive talents in the academy — we have many young talented players who, with time and opportunities, can reach the level of Chelsea.”
Broughton was instrumental in recruiting several young talents to City's academy including Max Aarons, Jamal Lewis, Adam Idah, Jaden Warner, Tony Springett and numerous others.
He left in 2017 as part of Norwich's footballing restructure with Stuart Webber and his team establishing a pathway to the first-team.
“I helped bring him to Norwich from Luton. I had left my job at Luton (as head of youth development) a few years before that and recruited a member of staff from Luton called Scott Smith, who is still at Norwich now.
“When Scott came in he identified two young players from Luton. Alex was one of the two, Kenneth Aboh who is still there, was the other. Scott said they were exceptional and that we should try to sign them.
“I left Norwich in 2017 and he would have been 13 at the time. He had already been moved up a few age groups by then, playing with older boys. We had a coach called Chris Brazell. He was excellent with developing young boys. He played Alex as one of two attacking midfielders. The other was Kristian Hlynsson, who is now starting for Ajax and has already made a senior debut for Iceland.
“I am not exactly sure where that pathway broke down for him at Norwich, but he obviously felt he wasn’t getting the opportunities he deserved. He had been doing very well in the under-21 team for a long period and he was now available. I tried to sign him for Blackburn but we were unable to compete with the terms offered by Chelsea."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here