Former Chelsea scout names forgotten wonderkid as 'best player who hasn't lived up to his potential'

A former Chelsea scout has named a forgotten wonder kid as the best player he’d seen at youth level.

At 15, Charly Musonda was coveted by the biggest clubs in Europe, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all registering an interest.

Chelsea beat off City to the Belgian’s signature and for a time, it seemed the Musonda would become one of the club’s most successful youth products.

However, an injury at an inopportune moment, as well as a crowd of established international players ahead of him in the pecking order saw Musonda’s development drastically affected.

At 27, Musonda now plays for Anorthosis Famagusta in the Cypriot First Division.

A former Chelsea scout Chris Robinson has now claimed that Musonda was among the best players he had seen at youth level.

Speaking to Rising Ballers, Robinson said: “Unfortunately there’s a lot of players who you see at younger ages who just don’t go on to fulfil their potential.

“But to give you an example I think one I would quote would be Charlie Musonda, a Belgian boy who came to Chelsea at 15 or 16.

“Attacking midfield player/winger type. He had a fantastic touch and great movement, he was quick, he would send players both ways, he could take defenders on both sides, he could score goals and he could make goals.

“He was as talented as anybody I’d seen at that age. He played for Chelsea’s first team, he made his cup debut against Nottingham Forest I think in the FA Cup. Scored, I think as well in a game we won 5-1 from memory.

Musonda was tipped for greatness at Chelsea (Getty)

“Then he got a very bad injury. He went out on loan to a couple of places that just didn’t work and he was out for a long time.

“He’s still playing now. My guess would be he’d be about 26 now, Charlie is playing in Cyprus I think, but in terms of sheer ability, he was as good as anyone I’ve seen at that age.”

Robinson also cited Jeremie Boga, currently of Nice, as another he thought would become a “world beater”.

Robinson said: “Jeremie Boga was a similar age to [Musonda].

“He’s still playing in the game and he’s had a good career, but I thought he was going to be a world-beater. Again he got an injury.

“So it’s often an injury that comes in the way of these players at the wrong time and it’s very hard to fight back from that.”

Topics: Chelsea, Football, Premier League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.