Where are they now? Chelsea’s 16 wonderkids from Football Manager 2015

Charly Musonda was one of several promising youngsters back in 2014.

Football Manager 2015 was released over a decade ago and we thought it would be a timely point to check out where the 16 Chelsea wonderkids from that game are today.

The Blues were about to win their fourth Premier League title, but the majority of these youngsters were firmly on the fringes at Stamford Bridge and never made much of a first-team impression.

Using FM Scout, we have found Chelsea’s wonderkids from Football Manager 2015 and have checked out what they are each up to these days.

Kurt Zouma

Back in October 2014, Zouma was a promising young defender who got his first crack at Premier League football under Jose Mourinho.

He managed to rack up over 150 appearances for the Blues and got his hands on five trophies along the way.

The Frenchman even managed to win a trophy at West Ham, a once-in-a-generation event for the east London club, before leaving the Hammers in 2024 for Saudi Pro League club Al-Orobah.

That is initially a loan deal, but the 29-year-old’s contract with West Ham expires next summer so it’s unlikely we’ll see him in the Premier League again.

Kenneth Omeruo

Having earned 60 caps for Nigeria, Omeruo clearly has something about him but he never made the grade at Chelsea.

In fact, the defender can be filed in the ‘perennial loanee’ camp at Chelsea, having spent six different stints at five different clubs while on the club’s books between 2012 and 2019.

Omeruo never played for the Blues and eventually signed for Spanish side Leganes. After five years at the club, including a spell as captain, he joined Kasimpasa in Turkey in 2023.

Andreas Christensen

Christensen, who joined Chelsea from Brondby at the age of 15, struggled under Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard but rediscovered his best form under Thomas Tuchel.

Plenty of Stamford Bridge regulars were sad to see him leave for Barcelona in the summer of 2022, especially as he formed part of a backline that conceded just 20 goals en route to the La Liga title in 2022-23.

He’s since been usurped by younger players like Pau Cubarsi, but there’s definitely an argument that Chelsea let Christensen leave too soon.

Jay Dasilva

The Chelsea youth product has spent the majority of his career in the Championship with Bristol City, but he made the switch to Coventry in 2023.

Dasilva has been a consistent performer in the Championship for quite some time now as he has made over 175 appearances in the second tier. Being just 26 years old, he still has the best years of his career ahead of him.

Wallace

Chelsea’s loan approach is a minefield, but a continued recruitment of uncapped South Americans is an element we’re still trying to get our heads around.

Joining from Fluminense in 2013, Wallace never made a first-team appearance for the Blues but was loaned out on four separate occasions before leaving for Figueirense six years later.

Now 30, the full-back is back in Brazil with Sampaio Correa-RJ.

Nathan Ake

It’s easy to forget that Ake was once a Chelsea player, but there was a time when he was on the edge of breaking through to the first team.

The Netherlands international joined Chelsea at 15 and made a few appearances for the London side, being named Young Player of the Season in 2013.

But after that promising start, Ake couldn’t quite hold down a permanent role, beginning to be loaned out in 2015 before becoming Bournemouth’s record signing in 2017.

He went on to make over 100 appearances for the Cherries before leaving for City. It’s safe to say that moving to the Etihad has paid off for the centre-back, winning four league titles and the Champions League.

Nathaniel Chalobah

Trevoh Chalobah became an instant fan favourite under Thomas Tuchel and made 80 appearances for Chelsea.

Older brother Nathaniel never quite managed that, having been sent out on a series of loans before eventually signing for Watford in 2017.

After struggling with injuries in his first couple of years at Vicarage Road, Chalobah helped Watford win promotion in 2021 and repeated the feat with Fulham 12 months later.

He’s now back in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday.

Mario Pasalic

Remember him? We forgive you if not, as the Croatian was a member of Chelsea’s loan army who never actually played for the club, eventually joining Atalanta permanently in the summer of 2020 after a two-year loan.

But Pasalic has been incredibly successful at the Serie A upstarts, scoring 35 goals since the start of 2020-21 and becoming a fixture in the Croatia squad too.

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Lewis Baker

Baker was earmarked by Jose Mourinho as a future England international, but never managed to escape the purgatory of the Chelsea loanee experience.

But in January 2022, he finally, at the age of 26, managed to get a permanent move away, signing for Stoke.

After a couple of impressive seasons in the Potteries, Baker is spending the 2024-25 season on loan at Blackburn Rovers.

Lucas Piazon

Ten years, eight loans and three senior first-team appearances; Piazon’s spell at Chelsea summed up their approach to youth development since the Abramovich era.

Chelsea initially signed the promising young Brazilian from Sao Paulo in 2011, but he was only eligible for a work permit to start in January 2012. All three of his Chelsea appearances came under Rafa Benitez, before a series of endless loans.

He finally left Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2021 and now plays for Portuguese side AVS.

READ: Where are they now? The 5 Chelsea teenagers handed Premier League debuts by Carlo Ancelotti

Cristian Cuevas

With a name like someone you’ve signed on every edition of Football Manager, Cuevas was loaned out to the Netherlands, Chile and Belgium during his four years at Chelsea.

He returned to his native Chile to join Huachipato permanently, but even they resorted to loaning him out to FC Twente and Austria Wien. The left winger is now at Universidad Catolica in the same country.

Still, he has an actual cap for Chile.

Bertrand Traore

Traore was first linked with a move to Chelsea in 2010 from Auxerre but it was 2013 when he finally joined the club’s academy.

He was loaned to Vitesse and Ajax before making 10 league appearances for Chelsea, scoring twice.

Traore then spent three years with Lyon, impressing enough to earn a £17million switch to Aston Villa in 2020. After a slow start, he scored some crucial goals under Unai Emery, but left for Villarreal in February 2024.

Months later, he rejoined Ajax and has four goals in 17 appearances for the Dutch giants.

Jeremie Boga

Boga joined the Chelsea academy in 2009 and spent a total of nine years at the club. Throughout those nine years, he only made one first-team appearance.

He left the club on a permanent basis in 2018 to pursue a career in Italy with Sassuolo. After impressing with them and Atalanta, the winger is now playing for Nice in Ligue 1.

Charly Musonda

The hype surrounding Musonda was huge back in the day. He was handed his senior debut by Antonio Conte, but injuries then massively hampered his career progression.

Musonda opened up about his injury hell during an interview in 2020: “It’s been four years since I played back to back professional games, three years since I last played for my club, two of those last four years, I’ve been injured with the post cruciate ligament of my knee.

“Nothing but heartbreak and heartache. Doctors told me going through surgery after being out for so long would be the end, an impossible mountain to climb, we’re the exact words.

“I’ll keep climbing the insurmountable mountain everyday to run with the football once again, because there’s no better feeling than taking someone on and feeling alive.”

Musonda has since been able to land a contract with Cypriot First Division side Anorthosis and we’ve got our fingers crossed that he manages to stay injury-free.

Joao Rodriguez

Rodriguez became the first Colombian to sign for Chelsea when he joined the club in 2013, but his spell at Stamford Bridge followed the same pattern as many other youngsters with numerous loan spells and zero first-team appearances.

He’s now playing for Costa Rican club Municipal Grecia.

Isaiah Brown

“My conscience tells me that if, for example, [Lewis] Baker, [Izzy] Brown, and [Dominic] Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself,” Jose Mourinho said whilst on Chelsea’s pre-season tour in 2014.

Sadly, things went quite differently for Brown, who showed great promise as a youngster out on loan in Huddersfield’s promotion-winning 2016-17 campaign, but suffered horrendous luck with injuries.

He was eventually released by Chelsea in 2021 and went on to sign a one-year deal at Preston North End but failed to make a single appearance for the club.

In April 2023 he announced his retirement at the age of 26.