Chelsea target pair of prodigies wanted by Tottenham as first team debut gets closer | OneFootball

Chelsea have one great Palmer already – but what if they had three?

A story coming out of TBR Football today claims that teenage twins Bailey and Anton Palmer, both in Middlesbrough’s youth academy, are a target for the Blues who continue to try and accumulate all of the best young talent in the world, especially domestically.

The pair of 16 year old brothers are getting close to their senior debuts, with Bailey already having featured on the bench for Michael Carrick’s first team. For England, they’re both playing in the U17 teams already and are considered among the “most exciting players their age in the country.”

Naturally, it’s not just Chelsea who are keen. Tottenham Hotspurs and “several other top flight English clubs” are going to be in the race for the youngsters this summer, according to the report. Aston Villa and Brighton are mentioned as keen.

Prodigies look perfect for academy integration

Anton and Bailey Palmer warming up for the England Under 17s.

While Bailey has been on the first team’s bench, it’s Anton who is ahead with the England setup. He’s made four appearances with the Under-17s for the Three Lions already. But despite small differences, both are at a very similar stage of development.

As we’ve seen with other examples of the young players brought in in the last couple of years, Chelsea would likely prefer to get them into the academy for a brief spell at least to give them a bit of the Cobham finishing school touch.

Unlike with teenagers from outside Europe, Chelsea wouldn’t have to wait until their 18th birthday to bring them in – they could come in this summer and start integrating right away, getting a couple of precious years in the Cobham setup before being loaned out or integrated into the first team squad.