Recently Watford have been making the headlines for signing an abundance of players on short term loan deals, with the vast majority coming from Udinese and Granada, two clubs both owned by the Pozzo family who completed a summer takeover and subsequent overhaul of the Hertfordshire club.
But the man they brought into the helm, Gianfranco Zola, has not forgotten his English football roots as he dived into the pool of talent at former club Chelsea to bring Nathanial Chalobah in on loan until January.
After a sterling performance against Bristol City last weekend the Italian legend came out in vocal support of the versatile 17-year-old claiming he could ‘go as high as he wants to’ in his fledging career.
So what can we tell you about the promising youngster?
1. Despite representing England at various youth levels the talented player was actually born on the 12th December 1994 in Freetown, Sierra Leone; who he currently still remains eligible for.
2. Nathaniel has been at Chelsea since he was a boy, before becoming a teenager and he quickly established himself as one of the teams most promising young players, making his debut for the under-18’s just after his 15th birthday.
3. He has been compared to Ledley King for his ability to read the game and versatility, being equally adept in the centre of defence and in the heart of the midfield.
4. Last season he was officially named the captain of Chelsea’s reserve side as well as captaining the under-18s side.
5. He was the captain of the Chelsea side that won the 2011-12 FA Youth Cup and scored in the final to add to an already impressive tally that included goals against Sunderland, Barnsley and Manchester United.
6. He has also won silverware on an international level, despite being the youngest player in England’s 2010 European Under-17 championship squad he was the starting centre back as they marched them to tournament glory against Spain in the final.
7. That team consisted of Jack Butland, Ross Barkley, Connor Wickham and team-mate Josh McEachran.
8. He is now captain of Noel Blake’s England Under-19 side.
9. At international youth level Nathaniel has represented the Under-17’s on 34 occasions scoring once and the under-19s 13 times scoring twice.
10. Whilst yet to play for the first team he accompanied the side to the 2012 Champions League triumph in Munich.
What do you make of Nathaniel Chalobah’s progress and future prospects?
image: © Jason Bagley
Mathew Nash
@hitcmathewnashGoogle+more stories from Mathew Nash
I’m Mathew Nash a 23 year old graduate in Sports Studies and I have an insatiable love for sport. With a particularly keen interest for the madcap world of football I have always been known amongst friends as a beacon for bizarre sporting trivia and knowledge. My other passion is for writing and hopefully combining the two will create a superb and entertaining marriage that will create, divide and share opinion.
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