Chelsea must regret selling £3m ace under Conte, he’s now worth 2066% more

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Chelsea have one of the best academy systems in world football, with Cobham notably producing a plethora of talent either shining at Chelsea or for a host of other clubs both in and outside of England.

The likes of Reece James and Levi Colwill are two currently at the club, seen as key first-team figures. James is now the club captain and Colwill has become a consistent starter, making 40 appearances for the Blues now.

Some others who have left the club in recent years include Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Lewis Hall, and Ian Maatsen. But who are some of the others that got away?

Cobham stars that got away

Two players who left at very young ages, never made an appearance for the Chelsea first team, and have gone on to play big parts for their respective Premier League clubs after earning big money moves are Declan Rice and Michael Olise.

Rice was part of Chelsea’s academy from 2006-2013, being released by the club at 14 years old. He then joined West Ham, breaking through their academy into the first team, playing 245 games for the club, scoring 15 goals and providing 13 assists, subsequently earning a £105m move to Arsenal.

Olise was part of the Chelsea academy system from 2009-2016, leaving the club aged 14 (just like Rice), before joining Manchester City for one year, and then joining Reading in 2017.

From this point, the Frenchman made 73 appearances for Reading, before earning his move to Palace, where he spent two seasons. He then headed to Germany in a £50.8m move to Bayern Munich.

Two players that did make it at Chelsea, before being sold for big fees as they entered the last year of their Chelsea deals, were Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher. The former played a massive part in the Blues’ Champions League success in 2021, and the latter captained the club for much of the 2023/24 season in the absence of skipper James, and vice-captain Ben Chilwell.

Mount made 195 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 33 goals, providing 35 assists, and totalling 13,959 minutes played, before leaving to join Manchester United in 2023 for around £55m. Gallagher made 95 appearances for the Blues, finding the net ten times and registering ten assists before leaving this summer to join Atlético Madrid for around £33m.

Yet, they aren’t worth quite as much as another of Chelsea’s amazing Cobham stars…

Dominic Solanke’s meteoric rise after Chelsea

Dominic Solanke is another name who falls into the category discussed above; a Chelsea academy prospect who left the club and has gone on to achieve things elsewhere.

However, whilst Rice and Olise exited before ever breaking through, and Mount and Gallagher were sold for decent fees, Solanke was let go for a tiny £3m fee, joining Liverpool in 2017.

The Englishman made 45 appearances for various Chelsea youth teams, bagging 35 goals and providing six assists. Scout Jacek Kulig described Solanke as “simply superb” during his teenage years, referencing his 2014/15 season, where he scored 31 goals in 33 games, and was awarded Chelsea’s Academy Player of the Year.

After heading to Anfield, Solanke only made 27 appearances in his two years there, often turned to from the bench, scoring just once in 727 minutes played. However, Bournemouth saw enough in the talisman to spend £19m on him back in 2019, where he went on to make a real name for himself.

In his time for the Cherries, Solanke made 216 appearances, netting 77 goals, providing 31 assists, and totalling 16,746 minutes played. It was this five-year period that shaped his career, with his best campaign coming in the 2023/24 season, racking up 19 Premier League goals and earning him a mega £65m move to Tottenham this summer.

The 27-year-old has now made nine appearances for Spurs this season, scoring three goals, providing two assists, and totalling 685 minutes played.

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How Solanke compares to Chelsea’s current strikers

The two players that have played up front for Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea this season are Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku. The former has made nine appearances, scoring five goals, while, Nkunku has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring seven goals in 444 minutes played.

But, how do they compare to Tottenham’s new star signing?

Solanke vs Jackson & Nkunku
Stats (per 90 mins)	Solanke	Jackson	Nkunku
Goals	0.38	0.74	1.36
Assists	0.38	0.44	0.00
xG	0.65	0.81	0.68
Progressive Carries	2.03	2.35	1.60
Progressive Passes	2.46	1.62	2.80
Shots Total	2.05	3.09	2.73
Shots on Target	1.28	1.62	1.82
Goals/Shot	0.19	0.24	0.50
Key Passes	0.72	1.03	1.60
Shot-Creating Actions	2.46	2.21	4.40
Aerials Won	1.74	0.44	0.80
Stats taken from FBref

Chelsea have a good mixture of traits with their two striking options currently. Jackson produces the most assists, generates the most xG, completes the most progressive carries, and takes the most shots, whilst Nkunku has the best goals per 90, the best conversion rate, the most progressive and key passes per 90, the most shots on target, and the most shot-creating actions.

However, Solanke clearly offers something the other two do not, winning 1.74 aerial duels per 90 minutes. Standing at 6 foot 2, the English striker uses his body well to attack the ball, bully opposition defenders, and carve out opportunities for himself and others by doing so.

Whilst Chelsea will be happy with their investment in Jackson and Nkunku, they are continuously looking to bring in another striking option, one who can offer more box threat and aerial prowess to the side, and Solanke could have become just that for the Blues, had he never left.