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Reggie Walsh, the record-breaking midfielder, is regarded as unique by Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.

The Italian took this youngster out of Chelsea’s academy and his GCSE year to make him the club’s third-youngster ever player after having a successful career in the position himself.

Walsh turned 17 on Monday and added Romeo Lavia to his Ajax debut in the 65th minute, making him the second youngest Englishman to play in the Champions League, behind only Jack Wilshere, who was formerly a midfielder for Arsenal.

Of course, this was a result of a dominant 5-1 win at home to a struggling Ajax side, but Walsh also broke the 11-year record held by Dominic Solanke, who is currently at Spurs, to become Chelsea’s youngest player in the top tier competition.

Maresca explained in a speech in September why he enjoys Walsh so much: “I like Reggie more than the others. I like all the academy guys.

Reggie is successful because he consistently performs tasks that I have assigned to the other players without asking me to. I don’t need to ask him to do anything. I already want that player’s actions from him.

Walsh, who had already broken numerous other records, was making his fourth appearance for Chelsea.

Walsh’s family didn’t anticipate him making his debut in Sweden until the end of last season, which was such a surprise given that he was called up to Chelsea’s first team.

They were fortunate to see him debut a week later, with the Blues taking a dominant 4-1 lead away from home to earn a 10-0 lead in the second leg.

Walsh, a skilled playmaker with a strong engine and great vision, only recently signed his first professional contract.

Jamie Redknapp, a former Spurs and Liverpool midfielder, is a friend of his and is an England Under-18s international.

Given that he only made two Under-21 appearances for the Under-18s when making his debut last year, it was surprising when Maresca removed him from the team.

Maresca previously stated that “he makes everything look so] easy,” adding that he was “perfect “for” his system,” and he demonstrated this against 10-man Ajax.

On Wednesday, Walsh completed 18 of his 19 passes in the final third of Ajax, with 16 of those coming in. Additionally, he twice seized possession thanks to two interceptions.

Walsh focuses both on Chelsea’s future plans and the recent past’s ghosts.

Since there hasn’t been a player over the age of 28 since the start of the season, Chelsea gave minutes to 10 players under the age of 21 or younger against Ajax.

On Wednesday, Chelsea also broken a number of other records, including:

Estevao, a Brazilian international, has joined the Blues this summer, and he is still impressive.

The forward was one of three Chelsea players last week who was chosen to receive the Golden Boy award, which recognizes the best young players from all over Europe, along with Jorrel Hato and Mamadou Sarr.

Maresca was praised for his performance after Hato described him as one of the best football players since Lamine Yamal.

He remarked, “I feel very fortunate to work for him.” Fans purchase tickets to see players like Cole (Palmer) and Estevao.

He is “very modest and polite,” and he wants to work hard. He has a wonderful family that is close to him. Although he is a special player, we shouldn’t be concerned that he believes he is aware of his level of talent. He is a straightforward individual.

For the club and its young players, it’s a special night.

The Blues were the youngest Premier League team and one of the youngest teams in Europe’s top five leagues last season, finishing second only to sister club Strasbourg, which was also under the same BlueCo American ownership.

After winning the Conference League and Club World Cup last year, Chelsea’s strategy, which occasionally receives criticism, is designed by them and is believed to have led to greater success over the long term.

Despite that, signing so many promising young players can send the wrong message to the club’s renowned academy, so a delicate balance must be struck.

Rio Ngumoha was traded to Liverpool in 2024, but Chelsea vowed it would never happen again.

Maresca has since made its debut last season, against less-than-proven Conference League competition, making eight academy players in the past eight years.

Additionally, 19-year-olds George and Josh Acheampong, both 19, have been given full-time first-team roles.

Harry Kane’s trophy drought came to an end with Munich, Bayern’s triumphant title in his 15th year of playing professionally.

It made it easier for him to pursue other significant prizes, including those for his club, his hometown, and himself.

The England striker was only 13th in the 2025 Ballon d’Ors in September despite having the best form of his life and never placed above 10th on the prestigious list.

Ousmane Dembele, who was named the world’s best player in Paris in the month that followed, seems to have taken Kane’s game to a whole new, previously impossible level.

With a 4-0 Champions League victory over Club Brugge, the 32-year-old increased his goal total this season to 20 in 12 club games across all competitions.

Kane is aware that if he keeps up his winning streak, wins the biggest club competition in Europe, and helps England win the World Cup in the summer, he will be in the running for the 2026 Ballon d’Or.

The former Tottenham Hotspur hero earlier this month said, “I would love to win it for sure, it would be an accumulation of doing something great individually and as a team.” “It would be almost the ideal season,” he said.

Michael Owen, the last English player to play for Liverpool in 2001, was the last to capture the prize. There have been only three others – Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979).

This could be his best chance ever given how he has just started his third Bundesliga campaign.

In just 104 games, Kane scored 105 goals in 108 games, making him the fastest player this century to do so for a team playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

Since the start of 2023-24, no other player has scored that many goals in Europe’s top five leagues.

England’s record scorer is averaging a goal every 54 minutes, but neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo, who needed 17 and 13 goals in a season, managed to score 20.

He is on pace to score 58 goals with 12 goals already scored in his previous seven Bundesliga games.

To surpass Robert Lewandowski’s record-breaking 41 goals in a single Bundesliga season, Kane needs another 30 in the final 27 games.

In Europe, the story is similar. He has scored more goals (24 goals and six assists) than any other player in the competition since his first Champions League appearance for Bayern in September 2023.

Kane’s Ballon d’Or case, however, goes beyond just goals; other elite goalscorers can’t match his hard work when he drops off the ball and off the ball.

In his 1990 Ballon d’Or winner’s column for Sky Germany, Lothar Matthaus wrote, “Kane has reinvented the center-forward game, as Manuel Neuer did with goalkeepers about a decade and a half ago.

“I don’t see a better striker anywhere right now,” he said. Not just because of his goals, but also because of the positions and versatility he plays.

Kane also exhibits qualities as a passer, dribbler, and tackler. He also contributes to the goalscoring, playmaking, box-to-box, and tackle corpse.

Kane’s team-mates do not overlook his ability to play with others while also upholding his incredible scoring record.

His former Bayern team-mate Kingsley Coman said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast earlier this year, “Harry makes you better – he is not here just to finish, he will put you in front of the goal.”

He seems to enjoy scoring as much as finding a really nice pass. Amazing is that he can do both. One of the strikers is the one who enjoys the simplest play.

People claim that a problem arises when a striker is selfish. However, Harry consistently scores 40 or more goals per year.

After Jamal Musiala’s leg and ankle broke during the summer, which gave Bayern their main attacking force, manager Vincent Kompany changed Kane’s play to give him almost total attacking freedom on the pitch.

Raphael Honigstein, a member of the BBC Football Daily Euro Leagues podcast, said, “He’s playing like three or four different players on the pitch at once. That’s invaluable.”

Kane, however, is not the only current striker in the field who wants to be called the world’s best player.

Kylian Mbappe has 18 goals in 14 games for Real Madrid and France while Erling Haaland has 24 in 14 games this season for Manchester City and Norway.

Kane has 23 goals in 15 games, including his most recent for England.

Matthaus feels neither contribute to the pitch as Kane, despite Haaland scoring in 12 consecutive matches and Mbappe ending his most recent run at 11th.

After Kane’s all-action display against [Borussia] Dortmund], he wrote, “I’ve never seen Haaland and Mbappe slide in their own penalty area like Kane did in the 88th minute.”

“I also don’t see Mbappe and Haaland making passes lasting 50 meters or more. Kane can’t play any of the other two’s chip shots, “I haven’t seen them.”

However, when Messi and Ronaldo aren’t awarded the Ballon d’Or, a winner typically comes from a team that has enjoyed success in the Champions League, Euros, or World Cup.

Kane remarked, “The best player on that team wins,” calling it a “team trophy.”

There is a chance to do that if I continue to do what I’m doing and our club and country have a successful season.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, and the BBC Sport website and app from 12:00 to eve of the match.