Chelsea Deliver Surprise Birthday Present To Aina As Promising Left-back Makes UYL Debut

Published: December 10, 2019

Jordan Aina, who is celebrating his 18th birthday today, has finally made his UEFA Youth League debut for Premier League club Chelsea, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

With the two-time winners already eliminated from the competition, Blues U19s manager Andrew Myers has handed a full debut to the Nigeria-eligible left-back in the ongoing game against Lille at Cobham Training Centre.

Last season, in the first year of his scholarship with Chelsea, Aina was not involved in any of Chelsea's nine matches as they were beaten by Porto in the 2019 final.

Jordan joined Chelsea as an U9, progressing through the ranks before he made his competitive debut in the U18 Premier League against Norwich City in November 2018 and totaled 14 appearances for that age group last term.

His appearances have been few and far between in the ongoing season, just two from a possible 11 league matches.

Jordan's brother, Super Eagles right-back Ola Aina, is Chelsea's all-time record appearance holder in the UEFA Youth League, making 20 appearances for the London club before becoming inactive.

Goalkeepers Prince Adegoke and Kelechi Chibueze, fullback Derrick Abu and midfielder Faustino Anjorin have been left out of the Chelsea squad vs Lille.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com