Chelsea may have lost the talented Jude Soonsup-Bell to Tottenham Hotspur in January but the club worked swiftly to bring in a replacement, with Jimmy Jay-Morgan arriving from Southampton.
Who is Jimmy Jay-Morgan?
Although Chelsea have been criticised for not bringing in a first-team-ready striker in the January transfer window, despite the hundreds of millions spent, Jay-Morgan could represent a very real option for Graham Potter in the not-too-distant future.
Such was the youngster’s reputation and goalscoring record at Southampton, that the Blues reportedly spent £6m to bring him in from the Saints in the winter transfer window.
The 17-year-old fired in a phenomenal seven goals and five assists in 18 games in the U18 Premier League last season and was swiftly moved up an age group, continuing to impress in the Premier League 2.
After scoring a hat-trick against Birmingham late in 2022, the teenage forward earned a lot of praise from academy coach Louis Carey.
He said: “I know Jimmy gets the headlines and the match ball, he can finish and the range of finishes is at the level we probably haven’t seen coming through the system for many years.
“At the end of it, you need someone like Jimmy to finish, and as I said I think he’s one of the best I’ve seen in my time here.”
He managed four goals and five assists in just eight appearances for the Saints in Premier League 2 this season, so it was no surprise that Chelsea paid big money to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
Upon his signing, head of youth development and recruitment Jim Fraser said: “In signing Jimmy-Jay we have added a player with good potential to our Academy squads. His ability marks him out as an exciting striker and we are delighted he has chosen Chelsea for this next, important stage of his development.”
That marks him out as an incredibly hot talent for the future, one who could well go on to replicate the greats of the past.
Chelsea haven’t had a striker reach 20 Premier League goals since the 2016/17 campaign when Diego Costa hit 20 for Antonio Conte’s title-winners and they arguably have someone just as clinical in the Cobham academy.
Arguably their best striker of the Premier League era, however, was the powerful Ivorian forward, Didier Drogba, a player who like Jay-Morgan certainly knows how to attract the headlines and score a wide range of goals.
Drogba certainly arrived in different circumstances, however, signing in a £24m deal in 2004. However, he went on to make 381 appearances for the Blues, contributing 164 goals and 86 assists, which included arguably the biggest moment of his career when he headed home the equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final.
That’s not to say that the Chelsea teen is going to do the same but with his excellent potential, there is no reason why he can’t begin to make moves towards replicating Drogba’s legacy.
The Blues have had the likes of Tammy Abraham and Armando Broja try to live up to that already, but Jay-Morgan could just be the best-placed of the lot.