I always find it interesting to see where our former youth players end up after they leave the club, so here are a few who I remember being reasonable prospects who didn't quite make it with us:

 

Danny Granville - A left back who scored his first goal for the club in Europe, I forget who it was against though, although the commentator thought he was Wise for a while after he scored it. Signed from Cambridge and eventually moved onto the likes of Leeds, Man City and Crystal Palace before retiring.

 

Sam Parkin - A striker who went on several loan spells, generally having a pretty good scoring record until he went to Northampton. Moved onto Swindon and did very well with 67 goals in just over 120 games. Currently plays for St Mirren after moving around lots of clubs in England and Scotland.

 

Leon Knight - Maybe the less said the better. But his best spell was at Brighton, though he currently plays for Glentoran in Northern Ireland.

 

Mikael Forssell - The super sub. Injury problems ravaged his time at Chelsea though and despite some good loan spells at Birmingham and in Germany was moved on. He went o Birmingham, Hannover, Leeds and currently plays at HLK back in Finland.

 

 

Sam Dalla Bona - A promising Italian attacking midfielder. I remember a cracking goal against Ipswich I think it was, but moved on on the cheap to AC Milan for only £1m. Milan loaned him out several times and he moved onto Napoli, who also kept loaning him out. Is currently at Mantova but doesn't seem to have featured for them at all in over a year.

 

 

 

 

Michael Woods - Signed from Leeds in a high profile deal at the age of about 16, made his debut in the FA cup against Macclesfield. People had high hopes for him to take over the mantle of Frank Lampard in the midfield, but it never quite worked out. After a loan spell at Notts County and then moving to Yeovil, Woods now finds himself playing at Harrogate Town in the Conference North division.

 

 

 

Gokhan Tore - A pacy winger who played a fairly big role in the youth team winning the youth cup a few years ago, he's currently playing for FC Rubin Kazan in Russia, and has 10 caps for Turkey.

 

 

 

Miroslav Stoch - Another winger who we had high hopes for, he did really well in the youth team and he did make 4 brief sub appearances for us. He went on loan to Twente and did really well, with 10 goals in about 30 games earning great reviews and it looked like he'd come back and get involved with the team, but ended up leaving instead and currently plays for Fenerbache. "In 2013, he won goal of the year 2012 against Gençlerbirliği on Süper Lig in the FIFA Ballon d'Or award and FIFA Puskás Award defeating Falcao and Neymar."

 

 

 

Anthony Grant - Dreadlocks and played in defensive midfield, when he made his debut off the bench against Man Utd you'd have been excused for thinking it was Gullet at a glance, but after about 4 loan spells he moved onto Southend where he played over 100 games before moving onto his current club, the scum: Stevenage Town.

 

 

 

Carlton Cole - One you obviously know about, has played over 200 games for West Ham, although never lived up to his potential. I had really high hopes for him when he broke into our team and I think if we hadn't been taken over he could have been our Drogba-lite for a good few years.

 

 

 

Filipe Oliveira - Another winger, made a few sub appearances for us, but moved on after a few loan spells. The biggest club he moved to was Parma but only played once and he currently plays at Videoton FC in Hungary.

 

 

 

Alexis Nicolas - A defensive midfielder who made his debut against Charlton in the infamous "beach" match, playing the whole 90 mins. After a loan spell at Brighton he went there permanently and then moved onto St Albans, but doesn't appear to have had a team since 2007.

 

 

Mbark Boussoufa - A dutch winger/striker who scored quite a few goals for the youth team I seem to recall and another one I had high hopes for. Never made an appearance for us and left for Gent. Then moved to Anderlecht and did pretty well with 48 goals in 148 games, currently plays alongside the likes of Diarra, Eto, Zhirkov and Willian at FC Anzhi Makhachkala

 

 

Scott Sinclair - DId really well on loan at Plymouth and when he left for Swansea did pretty well for them as well, especially in the Championship. Currently above us in the league sitting on Man City's bench week in week out.

 

 

Michael Mancienne - Another one who we had high hopes for, a versatile defender who could fill in at CB or RB. Had a decent loan spell at Wolves but moved onto Hamburger SV in Germany.

 

 

Jimmy Smith - A central midfielder who I hoped would make it at least as a JOdy Morris-type backup player, but another one who didn't make the grade. Went out on loan 4 times to the likes of QPR and Norwich, currently plays for Leyton Orient where he has played over 100 games where he's become quite an important player.

 

 

Jack Cork - Never really got a chance in our first team but is currently doing reasonably well in the Premier League with Southampton.

 

 

Lassana Diarra  - The "new Makelele" never really looked like he was going to take up that mantle in all honesty and spells at Arsenal, Portsmouth and Real Madrid proceeded him ending up at FC Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia.

 

 

Ben Sahar - Israeli striker who did get a couple of games in our first team, but after several loan spells he moved onto Espanyol where he was loaned out again before joining Hertha BSC in Germany where he currently plays and has 2 goals in 10 games.

 

 

Franco di Santo - Yet another striker who didn't live up to the hype. Currently at Wigan after a disapppointing loan spell at Blackburn where he only scored 1 goal.

 

 

Fabio Borini - And another one. Good loan spell at Swansea but didn't sign a new contract and after a brief spell in Italy currently doesn't play much for Liverpool.

 

 

Conor Clifford - Captained the youth team to the youth cup, scored a cracking winner in the final. Never got a debut though and has moved onto Leciester.

 

 

Jody Morris was on the radio today.....He doesnt have a club at present but keeps himself very fit in case he gets a call 

There are two that I often wonder where they went. Mark Nicols, played just off the front man, played again spuds when we put 6 past them at the lane, played a lot at about that time.

The other is Paul Hughes, I know he had a lot of injuries but I really thought he was a classy midfielder.

Jimmy Smith was one I was almost certain would play first team for us for a long time, just looked so good. 

Just want to point out people go on about never giving the youth a chance but looking at where they are now only stoch and tore could be considered good enough to be squad players

Nemanja Matic: One of the standout performers for Benfica this season. Rumours are that Manchester United are also scouting him. 

If nothing else that list highlights how hard it is to make the step up from promising youth player to first team squad.

 

If one of Ake, Josh or Chalobah can eventually establish themselves in our squad they will have done well. 

Although all decent prospects at their respective times at the club, I doubt any of them would have become regular players for the 1st team even if they had gotten the chance. Maybe Diarra could have been a rotation player but I doubt it. Sinclair really shined at Swansea, in my opinion going to city was the dumbest thing he could have done to his career.  Mancienne was a young player but the English game was always going to be too physical for him, wish him all the best at Hamburg.

Although all decent prospects at their respective times at the club, I doubt any of them would have become regular players for the 1st team even if they had gotten the chance. Maybe Diarra could have been a rotation player but I doubt it. Sinclair really shined at Swansea, in my opinion going to city was the dumbest thing he could have done to his career.  Mancienne was a young player but the English game was always going to be too physical for him, wish him all the best at Hamburg.

 

Forssell would have, IMO. He was loaded with talent and had the technique to match. Could have been a club legend but his knees failed him.

Mikael Forssell - The super sub. Injury problems ravaged his time at Chelsea though and despite some good loan spells at Birmingham and in Germany was moved on. He went o Birmingham, Hannover, Leeds and currently plays at HLK back in Finland.

 

It's HJK, which stands for Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (Helsinki Football Club). HLK is Helsingin Lawn-tennis Klubi (Helsinki Lawn-Tennis Club). A different ball game, one might say.

Forssell would have, IMO. He was loaded with talent and had the technique to match. Could have been a club legend but his knees failed him.

And when his knees failed him, I think he also lost his confidence (and never really got it back). During 2003 and 2004 he scored seven goals in twelve starts for Borussia Mönchengladbach and 17 goals in 32 starts for Birmingham, which was more than Michael Owen scored that season in Premier League. 

Just want to point out people go on about never giving the youth a chance but looking at where they are now only stoch and tore could be considered good enough to be squad players

Most of them are still only 20 or so, if you are expecting them to be top players at that age after being mismanaged here for years then you aren't being very realistic. In some cases if they were managed properly then they would have been good enough for the team but as it stands they are at average teams trying to restart their development, you can hardly hold that against them by saying "look at who they are playing for now".