Chelsea’s U14 captain called up to first-team training by Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard has given Chelsea’s U14 captain a chance to impress by calling him up to first-team training.

Since replacing Graham Potter in the Chelsea dugout last month, Lampard lost all of his first six matches in charge.

Last weekend, the club legend finally got his first win after the Blues beat Bournemouth 3-1.

The Stamford Bridge club made headlines this season after spending over £500 million on new players in both the summer and winter transfer windows.

Despite all the acquisitions, many were shocked to see Lampard call up Chelsea’s U14 captain Charlie Holland for training with the senior squad.

In a video posted on social media, Holland was seen training alongside the likes of Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling and Thiago Silva.

Holland led the Chelsea U14 side to Albert Phelan Cup South glory earlier in the month and is now sharing a light jog with the first team.

Lampard has previously given first-team debuts to the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori, Holland will be hoping to use this experience to enhance his chances in the future.

Usually, some academy players get called up to training but mainly from the U21s or 18s.

On this occasion, according to Twitter user @chelseayouth, the U21s have finished for the season whilst the U18s are currently out in Germany.

Therefore, players from the U16s and U14s, who are on-site through schooling can get called up when needed.

Feels like a bit of context also helps here; young academy players occasionally step in for senior training; usually 21s or 18s but 21s are done and 18s are in Germany. U14-U16 players are on site daily through schooling and, when appropriate, can get the invitation to train up. https://t.co/rVIxdOhhId

— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) May 11, 2023

It has been widely reported that former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino will replace Lampard in the summer as the new Chelsea boss.

Recently, Lampard spoke about the challenges of coming in as an interim manager.

He told the club’s official website: “This role as interim feels less in practice about coaching to that degree because things that mean you’re interim mean you are there for a reason, and the first things that are priority are normally motivation and confidence.

“That has been an interesting point for me, how this works on a coaching level. With time those players who have come in and are trying to settle will need a lot of work on the training ground to form the connections to hopefully give a more stable team that is picked, because history tells you those are the successful teams.”

Chelsea will be back in Premier League action this weekend as they on Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.