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- 44 minutes ago
Confirmed: How Chelsea convinced their next superstar winger to join
Cameron Smith
- 20 Nov 2025 09:14 GMT
- 4 min read
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Former Crystal Palace and Leeds United midfielder Shaun Derry has confirmed the reason why his son, Jesse, chose to join Chelsea this summer.
The 18-year-old is regarded as one of the brightest youth prospects in English football and he opted to secure a move to Chelsea in late July after rejecting the chance to extend his stay at Crystal Palace.
Derry, who was wanted by multiple top English clubs this summer, has enjoyed an excellent start to life at Stamford Bridge, scoring eight goals and providing two assists in 14 appearances for Chelsea’s U21 side so far this season, while he has also impressed for England U19s this term.
The teenager notably scored a hat-trick against Latvia U19s during the recent November international break and he has been tipped to become the latest youngster to be rewarded with a senior debut by Enzo Maresca.
Academy stars Reggie Walsh, Genesis Antwi, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Ato Ampah, Shumaira Mheuka, Kiano Dyer, Sam Rak-Sakyi and Tyrique George all made their first senior appearance last season, and Derry Sr has confirmed that a first-team pathway was the main factor behind Jesse’s decision to join the Blues.
Why did Jesse Derry join Chelsea?
“He’s [Maresca] been outstanding, hasn’t he? For me, I think he’s been fantastic,” Shaun told Chelsea content creator Alex Goldberg.
“I love the fact that he is the Chelsea manager. You don’t give opportunities, the players earn the right to have opportunities, but he’s open for those opportunities.
“You go back to the decision of why Chelsea? A real big tick box for us all, more importantly for Jesse, was last year I think nine academy graduates were given opportunities to play for the first-team.
“Of course that was the Europa Conference League competition, which Chelsea went on to win, but at the same time, that’s propelled those young boys to potentially having a career in the first-team.
"So you have to look at that as a massive box-ticking exercise when you are in the position we were in this summer.”
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