Wonderkids You Haven’t Heard of Yet: Charlie Holland (Chelsea)

Eagle-eyed viewers would recently have noticed a new name on the Chelsea bench for their Carabao Cup tie with Arsenal. While young Charlie Holland didn’t get onto the pitch, it is a strong statement from manager Liam Rosenior in the youngster’s talent that he was even considered for a place on the substitutes’ bench. As one of the many players in Cobham showcasing high potential, it is time to look at the abilities and background of this wonderkid in the making.

Wonderkid in Waiting: Charlie Holland Scouting Report

Profile

The 2009-born midfielder is just 16-years-old and tends to operate in a deeper role as one of a pivot or the base of a three, he can play a bit further forward as a traditional central midfielder. He represents England at international level and has been capped by the U17 side. He was recruited by the Blues from U8 level, a story similar to current first team regular Trevoh Chalobah who also started at the youngest levels and made his way through the system.

The youngster already comes in at a reported 5 feet 11, and with time to grow, could develop into the kind of physical profile that Cobham has quickly become known for. Time will tell and patience will be required but there are early signs that this could be the next player to make the real jump from the development side to the senior squad.

Charlie Holland Stats

The teenager has already been sweeping up minutes at the youth level, representing his club at various age groups and in various different competitions on top of featuring for his nation. He has only been capped twice by the U17 team, Holland has been more prominent for the England U16 but spent the latter half of 2025 out in the cold or with the U17s.

Club level has been kinder to the midfielder where he’s been able to pick up almost 1500 minutes in this term across the U18 Premier League, FA Youth Cup, PL 2, UEFA Youth League, and the Premier League International Cup with 21 appearances to his name.

He has been playing up in age a bit since last term when he would have been 15/16 and made a few appearances in the U18 Premier League against older, more physically developed opposition. He has been able to add assists to his game, getting a few in this campaign and one goal after being ineffective going forward in his first attempts at moving up an age grade.

Playing Style

The youngster has been almsot custome made for the Clearlake ownership, preferring to operate in possession-heavy tactics. He likes to pick up the ball deeper and use his strong passing range to orchestrate play and try to fashion space for a line-breaking pass.

He has been praised for his vision to pick out a pass, his ability to hold onto the ball under pressure, his tackling, which he can do comfortably with either leg, and his ball carrying. The closest profile in the current Chelsea squad is probably Romeo Lavia who similarly likes to sit deeper on the ball and either move the ball to open space or play a line breaking pass to turn the game around.