Chelsea teenager captained his country to European Championship qualification last night

 

Harvey Vale really hasn’t done too badly for himself this season.

The 18-year-old is now a recognised member of Chelsea’s first team, not to mention being integral to the development sides.

He has made five appearances for Thomas Tuchel, including in the quarter-finals of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Although the Premier League and Champions League have so far just been out of reach, it surely won’t be long before the teenager takes to the ultimate stage.

Vale will hopefully be playing on a grand international platform soon, thanks to his recent achievements with England’s under-19s.

Last night, the Chelsea academy graduate once more captained the Young Lions against Portugal.

Ian Foster’s group of talented prospects knew a draw would be enough to secure their place at this summer’s Under-19s European Championships.

Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Armenia meant avoiding defeat would place them top of the group and therefore ensuring safe passage to Slovakia.

Not settling for a point, England won the contest 2-0, with both goals coming from Tottenham Hotspur striker Dane Scarlett.

Chelsea’s young guns in charge

Deployed as one of three behind the centre-forward, Vale lasted the entire 90 minutes as he did in the previous fixture.

Fellow Chelsea youngster Xavier Simons played the final quarter of an hour, whilst Teddy Sharman-Lowe remained an unused substitute.

All three of the Blues can now look forward to the Euros, which begins on the 18th of June.

However, before then, their focus must be on improving the under-23’s position in the Premier League 2.

At the moment, Andy Myers’ men are second from bottom with six matches remaining.

They do have at least one game in hand on all of the clubs directly above them, with Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United both on 23 points compared to their 21.

Keep pushing lads, the end is not yet in sight.