Charly Musonda, two more sign professional deals

Not big news, but good news regardless: According to the Blues' official site, a trio of Chelsea youngsters have signed their first professional deals, including Belgian standout Charly Musonda. The other two on the list are defender Ola Aina and attacking midfielder George Cole, but I'm not nearly as familiar with that pair* as I am with Musonda, who's regarded as one of Belgium's top young prospects and has a pair of very accomplished older brothers in the academy as well.

*Adi Viveash has some good comments in the linked article.

This news is more about the players than the club -- it's a very, very big day for them to be given this opportunity, whereas from our end it was never really in doubt that they'd be given the chance if they were good enough. There will, of course, be cynics taking shots at the academy and youth setup whenever this sort of news comes through, but signing and nurturing talented youngsters can only ever be a good thing. I'm looking forward to seeing how their careers develop.