Five Chelsea players called up by England for U21 European Championships

Jake Clarke-Salter, Fikayo Tomori, Jay Dasilva, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have all been called up to the England U21 squad, for the upcoming European Championship in Italy. Former Chelsea youth player Dom Solanke has been included as well.

England have been drawn in a group with France, Romania, and Croatia, and will begin play on June 18. The 23-man squad in full is as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Angus Gunn (Southampton), Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United)

DEFENDERS: Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Chelsea), Lloyd Kelly (AFC Bournemouth), Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace)

MIDFIELDERS: Harvey Barnes (Leicester City), Hamza Choudhury (Leicester City), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolverhampton Wanderers), James Maddison (Leicester City), Mason Mount (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)

FORWARDS: Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa, loan from Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Reiss Nelson (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (AFC Bournemouth)

All five of the Chelsea youth have had excellent loan spells this season. Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham, standouts for Derby County and Aston Villa respectively, face off in the Championship play-off final today, in fact.

Jay Dasilva earned plaudits for his displays at Bristol City this season. The left back is also likely to depart Chelsea on a permanent deal this summer, with a host of teams interested in securing his services.

England won the U20 World Cup in the summer of 2017 with Tomori and Clarke-Salter, who’s been a regular for Leonid Slutsky’s Vitesse Arnhem this season, in the heart of defence and they could well be the first-choice pairing in Italy as well. The other centre backs in the squad, Ezri Konsa and Lloyd Kelly (recently signed by Bournemouth) will provide fierce competition for a starting place.

Several among this squad have played together in various age groups in the past and should be one of the favorites for the tournament. No fewer than 15 (fifteen!) already have Premier League experience, even! England’s youth have earned a fantastic reputation through consistent success in recent years, and Aidy Boothroyd’s squad will be looking to keep that streak going, with a core of players that bleed Chelsea blue as usual.