Tommy2holes
Life President⭐
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2007
- Messages
- 11,461
OK, so these are the ones I'm aware of that left the Academy and joined other League clubs either before they were offered a scholarship with Blues or very early in their scholarship. Obviously there are many more that have moved on after appearing for our first team that might be worth covering in a separate post at some stage in the future.
Keith Asare: Midfielder who featured in The FA Youth Cup for Blues at the age of 14 (his introduction causing a First Round tie at Barton Rovers to be replayed as he was too young to be eligible to participate in the competition), he signed a 4-year deal at Nottingham Forest in December 2015 before committing his future to Forest in a two-and-a-half year professional control in February 2018 that expired this summer. At that time he was rumoured to be interesting Borussia Dortmund and Monaco. Was a regular last term for the Reds U23 side.
Finley Burns: Towering centre-half who was signed by Manchester City in a record £175,000 fee for a 13-year-old having appeared regularly for our U16s at that age. Burns secured a scholarship with City last summer, featuring 15 times for their U18s as well as making appearances in Premier League 2 for the U23s and in the EFL Trophy against Bolton Wanderers, where he played 82 minutes of a 3-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers. Has been capped by England at U15, U16 (3 times) and U17 (once) level.
Chay Cooper: Attacking midfielder who featured twice as a 14-year-old and then twice more as a 15-year-old in our youth team before joining Tottenham Hotspur in 2017. He scored 16 goals in his first season with Spurs in their U16s team, then featured in 10 matches for their U18s in his first season as a scholar – including the first match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in March 2019 - and scored 6 and assisted 5 goals in 14 appearances last term. Set to make the step up to their U23s team in 2020/21 after sitting on the bench for an EFL Trophy fixture against Oxford United in December 2018.
Lyle Della-Verde: A tricky winger, Della-Verde moved to Fulham in August 2011 after one match as a scholar with the Shrimpers U18s (and a whole host more in the U18s as a schoolboy) but his progress at Craven Cottage was undermined by a serious cruciate ligament injury. He made his senior debut for Bristol Rovers in their 2014/15 National League campaign whilst on loan with the Pirates, but he suffered an ankle injury and returned to west London. In July 2015 he signed a two-year contract with League One Fleetwood Town, playing 8 times, but he was released in February 2016 and signed for League Two Crawley Town. Della-Verde played 12 times for the Red Devils before his release in the summer. 4 goals in 17 games in National League South for Welling United attracted the eye of Concord Rangers, where he netted 3 times in 22 games. Signed for Dartford for the 2017/18 campaign, scoring 5 times in 34 appearances before making the step up to the National League with Braintree Town, where he contributed 4 goals in 30 games. Has subsequently played for Kingstonian, Haringey Borough, Hayes & Yeading United and Enfield Town.
Kian Flanagan: The 20-year-old midfielder was released by Crystal Palace this summer after spending the previous five seasons with the Eagles U23s team. Won their U23 Player of the Year award in 2018/19 after scoring 10 times in 27 games but was frustrated last autumn after Palace failed to send him out on loan. Trialled with Doncaster Rovers last October, but didn’t link up with the Yorkshire club in the January transfer window. Played 6 times for the Republic of Ireland U18s and 5 times internationally at U19 level.
Isaac Hayden: Hayden moved from Blues to Arsenal as a 13-year-old in 2008 in the first move brokered by Blues Academy Manager Ricky Duncan. Although the fee hasn’t been disclosed, the deal is now believed to have earned the club almost £1 million. An England international midfielder at U16, U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 level, he made two League Cup appearances for the Gunners before joining Newcastle United for an undisclosed fee in a 5-year deal in July 2016, having played 24 games for Hull City in the Championship in the previous season. He helped the Magpies to promotion to the Premier League in his first season and has now scored 5 times in 121 games in all competitions for the St James’ Park side.
Dominic Iorfa Jnr: Tall defender who has now made 177 senior appearances in English football, scoring 5 times in a career that has taken in Wolverhampton Wanderers, Shrewsbury Town (on loan), Ipswich Town (on loan) and Sheffield Wednesday, where he was voted Owls Player of the Year for 2019/20. Capable of playing at centre-back or right-back, he was capped 13 times at U21 level by England and was the Football League’s Young Player of the Month in January 2015. Iorfa made a number of appearances for the Blues youth team as a schoolboy before being signed by Wolves in the summer of 2011, including at Anfield in our Raheem Sterling-inspired FA Youth Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Cameron John: Defender John scored once in four U18s appearances as a schoolboy for Blues before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers as a 15-year-old for an undisclosed fee in 2015. Had previously been in digs with Elvis Bwomono whilst with the Shrimpers. Yet to make his full debut for the Premier League outfit, he played in all three EFL Trophy matches for the club’s U21s in 2018/19 before linking up with Doncaster Rovers on a season-long loan deal in League One last season. Scored 3 times in 21 games and played against Blues at the Keepmoat Stadium in January, with the local newspaper, the Express & Star, suggesting he could go out on loan again next term.
Joseph Joseph: Tall centre-half who joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for a six-figure fee as a 16-year-old having made two appearances for our U18s as a schoolboy. Was offered a professional contract by Wolves in the summer of 2019 and has impressed for their U18s. Will now be seeking to make the step up to the U23s.
Glen Kamara: Defensive midfielder who moved from our Academy to Arsenal after making one appearance for our U18s as a schoolboy in November 2011. Progressed through the ranks in north London to make a solitary first-team appearance, against Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup, in October 2015. Prior to that he had been an unused substitute in the Champions League against Galatasaray in December 2014. After featuring on loan for us and Colchester United, he signed for Dundee on a two-year contract in July 2017, playing 65 times in total before moving to Rangers in January 2019 on a four-and-a-half-year deal with a £50,000 transfer fee. The Finland international, who has 14 caps for his country, scored his first senior goal against his former club in the Scottish Premiership a month later and has now made 57 appearances for the Glasgow giants, including both league games so far this season.
Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel: Full-back who played for Scotland U15s during his time at our Academy. He made two substitute appearances for the U18s as a schoolboy before joining Nottingham Forest in February 2015. Made his Forest debut as a second-half substitute in a 5-0 EFL Cup defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last autumn before appearing 9 times for Scunthorpe United on loan in League Two after Christmas.
Stephy Mavididi: Forward who moved from Southend to Arsenal in 2011 as a 13-year-old and who has just joined French Ligue Un club Montpellier from Italian giants Juventus in a deal worth a reported €6.3million after scoring 8 goals in 28 games for Dijon at the same level on loan last season. Mavididi, an England U17, U18, U19 and U20 international, signed professional terms with Arsenal in 2015 but failed to make a first team appearance for the north London outfit. Played 5 times on loan at Charlton Athletic in League One in 2016/17 and 11 times for Preston North End in the Championship before scoring his first senior goal for Charlton, back in League One, against Oldham Athletic in early 2018. In August of that year he moved to Juve, making his Serie A debut against SPAL in April 2019. Also scored 6 goals in 32 games for Juventus U23s in Serie C.
Shayden Morris: Attacker Morris was handed his first professional deal at League One club Fleetwood Town after completing his scholarship with the Cod Army. He left Blues at 16 and made his senior debut in September 2019 against Liverpool U21s in the Checkatrade Trophy.
Michael Ngoo: Tall centre-forward Ngoo featured three times as a schoolboy for Blues U18s before joining Liverpool as a 16-year-old in September 2009 in a deal that had the potential to rise to a quarter-of-a-million pounds. He had previously trialled with Manchester United. Scored 15 times in 21 games for the Reds in his second season as a scholar at Melwood before being top goalscorer for Liverpool U21s in 2011/12. Joined Hearts in the Scottish Premier League on loan in January 2013, scoring on his debut against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a Scottish League Cup semi-final. Also netted a penalty in the subsequent shoot-out, ending the season with 5 goals in 17 games for the Edinburgh club. In July 2013 he signed on loan for then-Championship outfit Yeovil Town, failing to net in 7 games, before linking up temporarily with Walsall. He netted once in 14 League One games. In August 2014 he signed a two-year deal with Kilmarnock, where he went goalless in 7 Scottish Premiership appearances, before spells at Bromley in the National League and Oldham Athletic in League One. Ngoo’s career has taken an upturn since joining Albanian team Tirana in 2017. The former England U19 and U20 international fired the First Division side to promotion and Albanian Supercup success with 13 goals in 26 games during his inaugural campaign before netting 10 times in 30 games in the Superliga in 2018/19 and 13 times in 31 games last season, although he has been suspended and fined for poor discipline on two occasions during his time with Tirana.
Imaad Sankoh: Defensive midfielder Sankoh was released by Watford last month after completing his two-year scholarship. He had appeared regularly for the Hornets U18s and U23s sides, even reportedly attracting the attention of Italian club Udinese in 2019, having impressed in a pre-season friendly in London Colney.
Jack Sims: Goalkeeper who joined Blackpool at age 16 made his first-team debut as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 League One defeat for the Tangerines against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day in 2019. Spent much of last season as back-up goalkeeper on the bench for the first team having played 34 times on loan at Northern Premier League Premier Division club Lancaster City in the previous campaign.
The youth are the way forward. Either with our first team or being sold on with a nice sell on fee.
