(Credit: Imago)

Oliver Walton

Tue 1 July 2025 13:33, UK

Dom Solanke and Trevoh Chalobah have both reacted to an early retirement announcement from a former Chelsea teammate.

Solanke and Chalobah each played together for Chelsea’s youth team between 2007 and 2018, and each of course still play in the Premier League to this day.

The pair were a part of some famous Blues’ age-group sides together, as they won the FA Youth Cup in five successive seasons from 2013 to 2018.

At 27 and 25-years-old respectively, neither Tottenham’s Solanke or Chelsea’s Chalobah look set to retire soon as they each feature in the top-flight and with the England national team, but the same cannot be said for a former Stamford Bridge teammate, who has recently called time on his career due to injury struggles.

Charly Musonda announces his retirement from football at 28-years-old

Chelsea’s impressive academy performances in the 2010’s has produced an array of talented players who still play in the top-flight today, with the likes of Declan Rice, Mason Mount and Nathan Ake having also played for the club at youth level, among many others.

One Blues player who looked destined to be a regular at the top end of the game as he was coming through as a youngster was Belgian winger Charly Musonda, but numerous serious injuries saw him make just seven senior appearances after joining as a 15-year-old in 2012.

Musonda left Stamford Bridge for good in 2022, after loan spells at Real Betis, Celtic and Vitesse, but he faced more injury issues at Levante and Cypriot side Anorthosis, and so recently decided to retire at just 28 from playing in an interview with Rising Ballers, who posted his announcement to their Instagram page on Monday (30 June), saying: “Charly Musonda has just announced his retirement from professional football exclusively in our interview with him.

One of the original rising ballers, his story is one of the most heart breaking in the game. Signed for Chelsea aged 15 in 2012 with the world at his feet, but injuries changed everything. His story in football is not over, he will use his experiences to help the next generation.”

Their announcement was reacted to by a number of footballers, with Solanke liking their post alongside former Chelsea man Dujon Sterling, while Reiss Nelson and Birmingham City-bound winger Demarai Gray also followed suit.

Musonda also moved to post his own emotional message to his Instagram page, saying among other points: “Today I’m announcing that I’m stepping away from 11v11 football, but not not so much away from the game I have loved, I still think I have a lot to give, especially for top players around the globe who need a stage.”

His personal post was reacted to with likes from Chalobah, ex-Celtic teammate Kieran Tierney and current Blues keeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe.

Chelsea’s excessive spending means the first-team path for academy graduates is blocked

Football Insider verdict

Despite his struggles with injuries, Musonda was actually one of the few Chelsea academy players that can say they played a game for the senior team amid the club’s aims for further success in recent times.

The Blues have taken their spending to another level in the last few years under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, with sizeable fees spent on the likes of Liam Delap, Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo this summer to add to their already expensive squad.

Enzo Maresca gave first-team debuts to eight academy players in the Conference League last season, but now that Chelsea are back in the Champions League, it is only Tyrique George of those players that looks likely to continue as a part of their senior plans.

Chelsea are also closing in on signing both Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens for a combined figure of £105million from Brighton and Borussia Dortmund respectively, so the pathway for more academy players to break through and establish themselves for the club looks even more blocked than ever before.