Former Chelsea ace names one thing that is still brilliant at the club
09/07/2024 04:01 AM
Newcastle star Tino Livramento has labelled the club's Cobham academy as "unbelievable" after coming through the ranks at Stamford Bridge.
Livramento, who could make his England debut against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday or Finland on Tuesday never appeared for the first team but did shine in the youth sides.
The 21-year-old left his boyhood club in 2021 to move to Southampton in search of regular first team football, but after just 34 appearances for the Saints he made the switch to Newcastle last summer and has already made 39 appearances for the Magpies.
Livramento on Chelsea's academy
Livramento was named as Chelsea's academy player of the year in 2021 and is one of a number of Cobham graduates to be plying their trade at Europe's biggest clubs.
It's testament to the brilliant job Chelsea do in providing a footballing education with the likes of Conor Gallagher now playing for Atletico Madrid, whilst Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham all play for Italian giants AC Milan.
Seemingly everywhere you look there's a Cobham graduate, with Reece James and Levi Colwill currently a big part of the first team plans at Chelsea under Enzo Maresca.
Speaking ahead of his potential England debut, Livramento was full of praise for Chelsea's academy and labelled it as "unbelievable."
"I feel like when you are at Chelsea, you kind of dominate the game quite a lot because obviously the academy is unbelievable," he told talkSPORT.
"You have seen the players that have come through recently."
Despite spending vast sums of money over the past few years the academy is still a vital part of Chelsea and it's important they demonstrate there's a path to the first team.
Youngster Tyrique George recently made his first team debut against Servette in the Europa Conference League, whilst a number of other youngsters have been named in the squad for the league phase of the competition.
The Conference League and domestic cups are likely to provide youngsters with a chance in the first team, but it's up to them to make the most of it and continue Cobham's tradition of producing brilliant players.
