Chelsea announce transfers as two players join from Premier League rivals

Chelsea have announced that Riley Ebho and Jashayde Greenwood have joined their developmental squad from Premier League rivals West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respetively. Hassan Sulaiman's side have made a great start to the Under-18s season with four wins from a possible five and now two new faces have arrived.

"Chelsea is pleased to confirm the addition of two new players to our Under-18s after Riley Ebho and Jashayde Greenwood signed scholarship terms with the Blues," a statement on the club website read.

"Ebho is a talented right-back who joins Chelsea from West Ham United. The 16-year-old impressed last season, consistently featuring for West Ham’s Under-18s, despite still being a schoolboy. He found the net for his first goal at that level in their away draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

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"Centre-forward Greenwood has also been added to our Under-18s squad, arriving from Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has already competed in the Under-18 Premier League, showing maturity and physicality beyond his years while scoring once in seven appearances, as well as representing England across various youth levels."

A strong start sees Chelsea under-18s second in the south table, behind Arsenal by just a point, though they have played one game more. Their latest victory came against West Brom with Sulaiman seeing his side come from a goal down to win 4-1.

At the start of September, the young Blues head coach spoke about the forthcoming season, among a number of other topics.

"I’ve really enjoyed the start of the season," he revealed as quoted by the Chelsea website. "It’s been great to get a proper look at all the players in our current squad.

"Naturally, we’ve had a number of boys progress into the youth team. Some I already knew from last season, but it’s also been valuable to see the Under-16s, and even some of the Under-15s, who spent time with us in pre-season. It’s been a fantastic opportunity to get eyes on them and assess their future potential.

"We’ve only had a handful of games so far, but the biggest positive has been seeing the overall potential of the group. Every year we welcome a new cohort and there’s always excitement about what they might bring. This season is about making sure we challenge them and get the very best out of them."

On the values he wants to see from his team, which now includes Ebho and Greenwood, he added: "As an academy, our values are really important.

"First and foremost, we want the boys to be brave. Brave in possession and brave out of possession. Another key value is showing some edge. We want to see that edge in performances and in training.

"Competition drives standards. If we can push that competitiveness, it will help us achieve the best possible results while developing strong, resilient players."

Chelsea return to action this Saturday for a London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.