Islam Feruz has been a scoring sensation for both Chelsea reserves, Scotland U19s and U21s, and is tipped for big things in the future.
At just 17, some are already calling for him to be introduced to the first team set-up, as our scoring problems mount. You have to remember though, that a certain Wayne Rooney was just 16 when he scored that goal against Arsenal all those years back.
The youngster has recently scored in wins over Man City and Fulham reserves, whilst scoring both goals in a 3-2 loss to Wolves reserve team also.
But, it’s on the International stage that he has been most prolific, causing excitement in the Scotland camp, and let’s be honest, it’s not often Scotland have much to cheer about football-wise.
@Chadley_N “He should be thrown in the deep end, Fernando Torres clearly isn’t playing well, Studge is injured, so give the lad a chance”
Although it’s very likely if he was brought it, it would be as an out-and-out striker, he can also operate as a right-winger, and scored a hat-trick of goals in a 4-3 thriller against Switzerland U19s from this position, which you can see in the video shown below. The young man certainly isn’t limited to goals either. He set up 3 goals in the 4-0 win over Armenia U19s in October.
@kevmc77 “Its absolutely not too early, if the measure of a striker is scoring goals he’s doing that so should be given the opportunity”
Benitez certainly isn’t afraid of making big decisions. He has dropped both Mata and Oscar in the last two games, and with League and FA Cup matches coming up soon, it certainly couldn’t be the worst thing to give him a chance, especially after his frustrations that the squad is not big, or fit enough.
@BenCrowe1987 “Age wise he probably a bit young to make impact but what’s harm in him trying as may perform better than Torres”
Like most of our footballers recently though, he has had his off the field troubles, being caught in pictures with a Rangers youngster and a girl, who was wearing his Scotland strip, that went viral on the internet. But, at just 17, he should be allowed a private life, and as usual, the press will make a mountain out of a molehill from it, especially due to the fact he plays for Chelsea, hardly the media darlings recently.
Benitez has a few hard weeks ahead of him, so maybe this young lad is the one to take the pressure off him. He certainly isn’t the immediate answer to our goalscoring problems though, so Roman may well already be writing out those blank cheques for Rafa.
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By Brad Smith
Yes. Too early.