See the youngsters ready to challenge for a place in Mourinho's Chelsea first-team squad

With the Blues recently placing an emphasis on developing young players, we take a look at the youngsters ready to challenge for a first team spot in Mourinho’s squad.

1.Bertrand Traore

Born in Burkina Faso, Traore joined Chelsea from Auxerre in 2013 having reportedly spurned the advances of Manchester United. While he is highly regarded at Chelsea, Traore has not yet appeared competitively for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
While he has yet to appear competitively for Chelsea, the 19-year-old shone in the club’s 2013/14 pre-season tour, with Mourinho said to be very impressed with both his ability and attitude. However, due to not having played the required amount of national team games at the time, Traore was denied a work permit and was unable to feature competitively for the Blues. As a result, Chelsea sent the young Burkinabe on loan to ‘sister team’ Vitesse Arnhem, where Traore would go on to shine.
While the Burkinabe took time to settle into the 2013/2014 season, scoring 3 goals in 15 appearances, it was in this past season that he really came to prominence.
A powerful, strong runner with an eye for goal; Traore, having been signed as a winger, has since been shifted to centre forward, where he has taken to the position like a duck to water. This past season, Traore scored 15 goals in 37 appearances, in the process helping Vitesse qualify for the Europa League.
Such has been his progress that it is believed that Mourinho was one of the drivers behind the push to obtain a work permit for Traore, which has recently been granted. Traore has now played the required amount of national team games and has been given a work permit to play in England, with murmurs around Stamford Bridge claiming that Mourinho would like to include the winger sooner rather than later, and integrate him into the first team squad.
It is thought that Mourinho believes the youngster is ready to contend for a place in the first team and may be looking to add the forward to the squad in order to provide depth in attacking positions.
Despite only being 19-years-old, Traore has international experience having made his international bow aged 15 and has represented his country 23 times, scoring twice in the process.
2. Kenneth Omeruo

A tall and powerful defender, Omeruo has been with the Blues since 2012, having signed from Belgian club Standard Liege in 2012.
Since joining, Omeruo has been farmed out on loan and gained invaluable experience that has seen him become a regular in the Nigerian national team. Over the past two seasons, the Nigerian has amassed 36 and 33 club appearances whilst out on loan with ADO Den Haag and Middlesbrough respectively, not to mention having made his international debut aged 19. A full Nigerian international, Omeruo has appeared 28 times for Nigeria despite only being 21, and has shone on the international stage, particularly the 2013 AFCON tournament where Nigeria went on to win a third African title.
Omeruo, a commanding and organised defender, is an asset at both ends of the pitch and is widely regarded as the natural successor to John Terry according to those inside the club. It is also thought that, given his versatility, he could become a useful player for the West Londoners, with the centre-back also able to slot in at right back. While Chelsea have been linked to a host of defenders and are actively seeking defensive reinforcements, they may not need to look farther as they have a ready-made defender in Omeruo.
While he is yet to make an appearance for the Blues, the powerful centre-back is tipped to go on and become a regular for Chelsea with the Nigerian seemingly ready to challenge for a place in Mourinho’s squad.
3. Jeremie Boga

Having joined Chelsea as an under-12, Boga has risen through the ranks at Cobham and at 18-years-old is already seen to be on the periphery of the first team.
Born in Marseille, Boga can play a number of offensive positions. He has generally played as a creative attacking midfielder, but is also comfortable playing out wide or as a second striker due to his ability to create opportunities and beat opponents. Although Boga was born in France, he is of Ivorian descent and is eligible to represent the Ivory Coast on the international stage should he choose to spurn les Bleus advances.
Often seen dazzling teams and splitting defences at youth level, Boga’s rapid and consistent development caught the eyes of management, which resulted in the young Frenchman being fast-tracked into the U21 squad aged 15, with a view to ease him into the first team. Mourinho is said to be particularly fond of the Frenchman’s ability stating that “When you want to look forward, look to the future and we have people like Fabregas, Matic and Jeremie Boga, which are the next 10 years of the club” - quite the vote of confidence from the Special One.
Still only 18, such has been his development that both Marseille and Monaco have contacted the Frenchman with both clubs ready to offer the youngster first team football. Despite these advances, Boga  is so highly rated at Stamford Bridge that Chelsea are unwilling to release the youngster in a permanent deal and would only consider a loan deal.
Chelsea view Boga as a future first-team player and, according to sources close to Stamford Bridge, hope that he will be ready to challenge for a place in the first team squad in the upcoming season.