Southampton join Sheffield United in the race for Chelsea youngster Silko Thomas
According to Sun (h/t Yorkshire Live), Southampton have joined Sheffield United in the race to sign young Chelsea wing-back Silko Thomas.
Thomas has been on a trial with Sheffield United and their manager Paul Heckingbottom has admitted that they are in the reckoning to sign the 18-year-old.
The report says that Southampton are also keen on the player and believe they can develop him into something good. In recent history, we have seen young Chelsea players going to the south coast and doing well during their loan spells. Tino Livramento and Armando Broja are examples.
Thomas is a winger who can play as a wing-back on either side of the field. In addition to playing games on the trial at Sheffield United, he has played eight games for the two Chelsea youth sides this season.
Since the start of the 2020/21 season, the 18-year-old has played 58 games in all competitions for various Chelsea youth sides, scoring seven goals and assisting eight. Most of those 58 games have come either as a left or right-wing-back.
The England U-18 international has good pace and skills on the ball. He is decent off the ball and works hard. The offensive threat is always there with him in wide areas.
With the way Chelsea have done business in buying the best young talents in the last six months, it does feel that players like Thomas may not get much of a chance to shine for the senior team here.
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- Chelsea set to step up pursuit of Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries
- Graham Potter has made his remark on Mykhaylo Mudryk debut against Liverpool
Hence, it makes sense from the player’s and the club’s viewpoint that they part ways soon. The former can move to a club like Southampton and develop himself there. The Saints have a long history of developing top young talents, not just from Chelsea, but from their academy too.