In Chelsea's FA Cup match against Chesterfield, there were many youth players on the pitch, in addition to Hudson-Odoi, Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who were already based on the first team; Harvey Vale and Lewis Hall, two post-00s rising stars, also got their own opportunities. But Lewis Baker's appearance was the one that surprised the fans the most.
The 26-year-old Louis Baker is the same academy product as Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and like the two, Louis Baker's fame in the youth team is also quite loud. The England "supernova" is known for his accurate long passing and free throw skills, and has gained a good reputation in English football for regulating and controlling the rhythm of the game in the midfield. Back in 2014, he gave Mourinho his debut as a team, playing in the FA Cup against Derby County and coming on as a substitute for Brazilian attacker Oscar in the 87th minute.
But for more than a year, although Luis Baker was promoted to the first team, he struggled to get a chance under Mourinho, and he did not get a minute of playing time throughout the 2014-15 season. (But Mourinho said Luis Baker would receive a Premier League title medal) In the following season, he was loaned to Championship Sheffield Wednesday (Championship) and Milton Keynes (League One) to finally get 16 appearances, scoring three goals.
In the summer of 2016, Luis Baker attended the Toulon Tournament with england's youth team and performed well in the tournament, scoring a record goal in the final against France, and personally winning the tournament's top scorer, but also leading the championship. After this battle, Luis Baker began to receive attention from the team, but unfortunately, the Chelsea manager at the time did not like to reuse the youth coach Conte, Luis Baker could only continue his loan career in the following season, and was loaned to the Blues' "satellite team" Vitesse.
In the two seasons of the Eredivisie, Luis Baker had a superb performance, scoring 20 goals in 73 games and winning the 2016-17 Dutch Cup with the main leader. But he still failed to impress Conte with his pre-season performances; he was then transferred to Middlesbrough, Reading, Leeds United, Fortuna Düsseldorf in the Bundesliga and Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super League, but they were not enough to impress the team to sign him permanently; he was left unloved this season and forced to stay in the team.
In fact, Louis Baker's talent is not bad, but the problem is that he is a player who needs to be used as a core, how can a team have the space to give an unknown loan player or a young man? This also made It impossible for Louis Baker to stay with every team he visited; he didn't get many opportunities. In the last game, Luis Baker, who played as a centre-back, was quite effective in long passes and using the ball, but unfortunately, at the age of 26, it should be difficult for him to get a chance at Chelsea.
His former young army friends Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christensen have all successfully gained a foothold in the team; "bad" such as Dominique Solank and Big Chaloba have also become the core of the Championship team, Luis Baker can be regarded as a "Lonely Man", and at the age of 26, he can only stay in the team and no one cares, I believe it feels bad. Hopefully, after this campaign, he will regain his attention and attract some lower-level teams to take him in, so that he can live his football career well.