Chalobah sets sights on senior England duty
Chelsea midfielder plays for under-21s tonight Victory will seal place in European semi-finals
Nathaniel Chalobah goes into England Under-21s’ match against Poland, with a European Championship semi-final at stake, having finally made a breakthrough at Chelsea – and with a Premier League winners’ medal in safekeeping back home.
It will, remarkably, be Chalobah’s 95th appearance for England at youth level and a 39th Under-21 cap – only James Milner, with 46, has more – and there was a time when it appeared the midfielder would actually end up playing more for his country than his club.
He has always been one of the brightest prospects at Chelsea’s academy, since he joined from Fulham at age 10, but had been sent out on loan six times until last summer new manager Antonio Conte saw something that made him keep the 22-year-old at Stamford Bridge.
“He showed faith in me in preseason and he liked the way I was working. That was a confidence boost. He made a decision to keep me. The way I see it is that I’m in a better position than I was last year,” Chalobah said.
“I have worked with plenty of managers and last year, for me, being in and around the first team, training with them every single day was always going to be a positive, because you are training with the best players in the world. We won the league and I have got competition ahead of me in [N’golo] Kanté, [Cesc] Fabregas and [Nemanja] Matic, and we’re talking European Cup winners, World Cup winners. These are players that you can learn from every day.”
At a club where the move from academy to regular first-team football has proved beyond everyone in recent years, despite Chelsea’s astonishing investment, a lot of hope is now pinned on Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-cheek, who would also have been in the Under-21 squad had he been fit.
“It’s a very high standard at the club, and the club has an amazing academy and produces really top players,” Chalobah said. “It is just there’s that barrier of getting in there and staying in there. You’re playing for one of the best teams in Europe, and the demand is high on winning. They have to win every year. It’s not so much to put pressure on the players, it’s more about the opportunity.”
Chalobah finally made his Chelsea league debut last season, and collected 15 appearances in all competitions – six years after being named on the bench for a League Cup tie. He would dearly love to win these finals with England to end his Under-21 career on a high. He made his England Under-16 debut aged 13; his Under-17 debut at 14 and his Under-21 debut in 2012 aged 17. Now he hopes he is just one step away from the seniors.
“[England manager] Gareth [Southgate] has showed with his faith in the system that anything’s possible leaving the Under-21s. He’s called up Nathan Redmond and James Ward-prowse, players who are here now. You can see there are players who were in these championships two years ago who are now playing for the seniors, like Harry Kane. The pathway is there. Players are getting the opportunity.”
If England beat Poland they will qualify for the semi-final, next Tuesday in Krakow, as Group A winners. A draw may be enough if Sweden and Slovakia draw.
England (probable, 4-4-2, v Poland): Pickford; Murphy, Chambers, Mawson, Chilwell; Ward-prowse, Chalobah, Baker, Gray; Redmond, Abraham.