Frank Lampard called up Chelsea‘s Under-14 captain to senior training on Thursday after the youngster was spotted going through the gears with first-team stars at Cobham.
Teenager Charlie Holland could be seen training alongside the likes of Joao Felix, Thiago Silva, Conor Gallagher and Raheem Sterling after a shock promotion from Lampard ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.
Holland, who captained the Blues’ Under 14s to Albert Phelan Cup South success earlier this month, first enjoyed a light jog with the team while appearing to share a few words with Gallagher – a former member of Chelsea’s academy.
In footage of Thursday’s training session, the Under-14 starlet was then spotted standing alongside £88million star Mykhailo Mudryk and a host of other players as they awaited their next drill.
Lampard is a renowned advocate of young talent after bringing through the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori during his first spell as Chelsea boss.
Frank Lampard called up Chelsea’s Under-14 captain Charlie Holland (second from right) to senior training on Thursday
Holland could be seen sharing a few words with Conor Gallagher (fifth from left) while going through the gears with first-team stars at Cobham
The youngster trained with Lampard’s men ahead of their clash with Nottingham Forest
He could be seen standing alongside £88million signing Mykhailo Mudryk (third from right)
And the caretaker manager is clearly an admirer of Holland after showing a remarkable degree of faith by calling him up to train with the senior squad.
While academy starlets are often called up for training, this reward is typically handed out to Under 21 or Under 18 players. However, Holland was offered the chance to take part in a warm up alongside Champions League and World Cup winners before observing the full training session first-hand.
With virtually nothing left to play for this season while 11th in the Premier League and out of every cup competition, Lampard likely decided there was no better time to give one of the club’s youth players a rare taste of first-team training.
It has been a disastrous campaign on the whole for Chelsea, despite co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali spending around £600million on new signings throughout the summer and January windows.
They have had four different head coaches – with Lampard taking caretaker charge after Bruno Saltor briefly held the fort following the sacking of Graham Potter, who replaced Thomas Tuchel last September – and failed to integrate an overwhelming number of recruits amid poor form on the pitch.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to replace Potter as Chelsea’s new permanent manager this summer with Lampard remaining caretaker until the end of the current season.
Lampard ended a dismal run of six straight defeats after picking up his first win as temporary Blues boss last weekend.
His side scored twice in the final eight minutes to claim a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth and mathematically avoid Premier League relegation.
Holland captained Chelsea’s Under 14s to victory in the Albert Phelan Cup South this month
Lampard called him up to senior training towards the end of a disastrous season for the Blues
Source: dailymail.co.uk