The 17-year-old has once again been featured in the Blues’ matchday squad by Mauricio Pochettino, this time for their London derby against Tottenham. Mauricio Pochettino has not been shy about the amount of injury issues his Chelsea squad have suffered this season and whilst many fans would’ve hoped to have seen the amount of problems die down the further into the season we go, that has not been the case......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
, including captain Reece James, centre backs Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi as well as Levi Colwill who returned to full training this week but won’t be available for tonight’s clash. Malo Gusto is similarly unavailable, with midfielder Enzo Fernandez undergoing surgery last week in order to fix a groin issue.
Ahead of the clash against Spurs this evening, the Blues boss explained, claiming: “Of course, we are working to try and improve. We have amazing medical staff, performance area, coaching staff – we all have experience managing clubs and being in this business. When some circumstances arrive, sometimes it can happen, of course we need to put all of the information on the table and to be better next season.
“We need to improve with communications, dynamics, strategies, everything that we need to put our knowledge to try and improve. But I think the quality is here. It happens sometimes with the team, sometimes the team does not perform, but the consistency of the new project can sometimes can [disrupt the form]. But I do not say it is that. There are so many things that maybe are all together today and that is why we are suffering so many injuries.”
It has meant that the side’s bench has often had to be filled with academy players who Pochettino could give opportunities to, with the likes of Alfie Gilchrist, Jimi Tauriainen and Alex Matos being a few names that have already featured this season. Now over the last few weeks, another name has cropped up with Kiano Dyer being included in the matchday squad. With that being said, football has profiled Dyer to see what he could offer if he is to come off the bench and feature in tonight’s derby clash.
Born on November 21, 2006, the central midfielder began his career at West Bromwich Albion before making the move to Chelsea back in 2021 as a 15-year-old. Now 17, he has made 12 appearances for the club’s Under-21s side in their Premier League 2 campaign, on top of four appearances in the FA Youth Cup, helping the Under-18s reach the quarter-finals of the competition before bowing out to Millwall Under-18s on penalties.
His impressive displays in the academy have meant manager Pochettino has included him in the matchday squads for the 6-0 win over Everton, as well as the 5-0 defeat to rivals Arsenal and the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa over the weekend after signing his first professional contract with Chelsea in November 2023.
The youngster has also received England call-ups at various youth level, having made three appearances for England’s U-16s, 13 appearances for the U-17s – where he was part of the squad who finished fifth at the 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship – and made his U-18s debut in March of this year in a 2-1 win over Czech Republic U-18s. Since then, he’s also notched caps against Germany U-18s and the Netherlands U-18s, playing 90 minutes in both friendlies.
Dyer’s technical ability, wide passing range, dribbling expertise and his versatile positional capabilities makes him ideal for the role which Pochettino has for him, with the 17-year-old able to come off the bench in a number of positions to help fill in the gaps left by injured stars ahead of him in the pecking order.
