Four Chelsea youngsters hoping for chance against Panathinaikos as Enzo Maresca leaves stars at home

Enzo Maresca has included four academy graduates in his Chelsea squad for Thursday night’s Conference League meeting with Panathinaikos.

The Blues made a fine start to their group stage campaign when beating Gent 4-2 at home prior to the international break and will be looking to make it two wins from two in Athens.

Following Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool, and with Newcastle to visit Stamford Bridge this weekend, Maresca has left a number of senior players in London and could instead hand opportunities to some of the club’s most exciting young talent.

Here are the quartet hoping to make their mark…

Lucas Bergstrom

Finnish goalkeeper Bergstrom has been at Chelsea since 2018, signing as a teenager from Turun Palloseura in his homeland, and has already been capped at senior level by his country.

After progressing through the youth ranks, he spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Peterborough United in League One, making 28 appearances across competitions.

Returning to the club the following summer, Bergstrom featured on the bench on 15 occasions in the Premier League last term but is yet to make a first-team debut and spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Swedish side IF Brommapojkarna.

Tyrique George

One of the club’s most highly-rated talents, George was part of Maresca’s squad for the preseason tour of the US and has featured twice already this term: against Servette in Conference League qualifying and in the Carabao Cup win over Barrow.

A pacy winger, George has been at the club since Under-8 level and last season played a key part in the U18s title success while also making the step up to the U21s.

“I think he was good,” Maresca said of the 18-year-old’s debut against Servette. “The most important thing is he was not shy because he played with personality. This is important for a young player.”

Samuel Rak-Sayki

Rak-Sayki is the younger brother of Jesurun, who also came through the Chelsea academy before moving to Crystal Palace in 2019 and is now on loan at Sheffield United.

Central midfielder Samuel is another who joined the club as an Under-8 and his progress was rewarded with a new two-year contract earlier this summer.

“Sam is a good profile, a midfielder, he can play all the midfield [roles], in between the lines,” Maresca said on Wednesday.

Shumaira Mheuka

The youngest of the quartet, Mheuka only turned 17 on Sunday, but has already turned out for England’s U19s, scoring against France and the Netherlands earlier this month.

Known to team-mates as “Shim”, Mheuka came through Brighton’s academy and, remarkably, made his Seagulls U18 debut at the age of just 14.

The forward moved to Chelsea’s academy in 2022 and this summer went full-time as a scholar, having scored 12 goals in 20 appearances for the U18s while still at school last term.