EXCLUSIVE: Trevoh Chalobah on his journey from Sunday League to the UCL | OneFootball

Trevoh Chalobah’s surprise emergence as an important first-team player for Chelsea has been one of the feel-good stories of the season.

After rising through the club’s academy ranks, the versatile defender racked up 108 senior appearances in loan spells at Ipswich Town, Huddersfield Town and Lorient in Ligue 1 before returning to west London last summer with his future uncertain.

So it was a surprise to everyone, including Chalobah himself, when he was named in the starting line-up for Chelsea’s Uefa Super Cup clash with Villarreal last August.

“When I came back from loan, obviously the manager knew me from before, from the league when he was at Paris,” Chalobah tells OneFootball in an exclusive interview.

“I’d played over 100 games, so he knew I had the experience. I just needed a platform. Because I knew I was ready.

“We have a group chat where they just put the travelling squad in, and that’s when I saw my name and I was so happy. I called my dad, I called my agent, as well, to let them know I’m travelling. But I said to them I probably might just be in the squad, not on the bench. But they said, ‘Just have faith.’

“I remember the meeting two hours before the game, and I saw I was in the starting line-up. I was shocked as well, but at the same time, happy and nervous. It would be my first Uefa final for the club. I was just so pumped up for the game. You want to impress. And you want a chance to get a trophy. And we ended up doing that and it was just a great way to start the season for me.”

Chalobah’s impressive performance in Belfast led to him making his long-awaited Premier League debut on the opening day of the 2021/22 season, when he also scored a brilliant goal in a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace and sank to his knees in celebration on the Stamford Bridge turf.

It was a dream come true for a boy born in Sierra Leone and brought up in the London Borough of Lambeth with his brother – ex-Chelsea and now Fulham midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah.

“The neighbourhood where I grew up, it’s called Gipsy Hill. Football was very big,” says Trevoh.

“There would be like a cage, where we would go. My older brother, Nathaniel, and the older boys would set up the match, just play a big tournament. No matter what age, there was big, there was small…the whole community coming together and just, playing and having fun together.

“My brother played against Chelsea, the academy, when he was at Fulham. Chelsea scouted him from that game. From there, when I saw that, I just started to step it up a bit more.

“I remember a few weeks after Chelsea came in for me. So then I was like, ‘Oh, wow!'”

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that Chalobah had to be patient before eventually making the grade at Chelsea, because overcoming obstacles is something he has been doing throughout his young career.

“The first session was very tough, the transition from Sunday League football,” he says.

“I remember the players because I’m in the same age group as Mason Mount, Declan Rice. I found it really hard because of the speed and stuff, I had to get used to it.

“I remember I used to be in the car with my scout, because he used to take me to training and back home. And I’ll start to cry in the back of the car, saying ‘I’m not good enough, this is too hard for me.’

“One of our coaches said, ‘I’m gonna try you at the back.’ I started doing well there! And then I started to believe in myself more. I had the height, I had the strength. I improved on my speed. My heading.

“I’ll say from under 16 onwards, that’s when I started to step up. Thiago Silva, moving to that position, he was my favourite player.”

Last season Chalobah could only watch on as Chelsea lifted the Champions League in Porto but since breaking into the first team, he has made three appearances in Europe’s premier competition and was named Player of the Match after scoring in a 4-0 victory over Juventus in November.

He will be hoping to be involved again when the Blues continue their quest to retain their title against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

“I used to be a ball boy in the Champions League games, to then now play for your boyhood club, starting and scoring as well. Yeah, it’s just something you can’t describe,” he says.

“For me, that just makes me feel like I’ve come a long way. I’d like to win it again, obviously. I’m confident enough that we can do well. It won’t be easy, but it would be something.”

Chalobah’s ascent from Gipsy Hill, to academy starlet, to loanee and then Chelsea first-teamer was the culmination of a long journey. But his story is far from over, and there are many chapters still to be written.

“Not everything is gonna be in a straight line,” he says when reflecting on his career so far.

“There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs and you’ve got to be willing to go through it and come out of it at the other side.

“When I started playing football, I wanted to be a legend, wherever I’d be. Be that person that’s inspired young kids as well.

“That’s led a good pathway and obviously that’s remembered. From representing a Sunday League team, to then one of the biggest clubs in the world, yeah, it’s an unbelievable journey.”