When Izzy Brown came to Chelsea, he arrived as a controversial youth signing from West Brom, with a far higher profile than his peers. But now the tables have turned.
His old classmates Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori, all from the class of 1997, have rocketed up from a few years at Championship level to become regular Premier League starters for Chelsea.
The far more hyped Brown on the other hand is down in the second tier with Luton, and he’s given an interview with Goal.com to explain what it’s been like adjusting to that change of status:
“I think everyone has a different path. You can have your moment when you are 18 or 24, 25.”
“There’s no age limit to when you are going to make it as a Premier League player. So I don’t think what they are doing inspires me too much because I know when my time comes, I am going to be ready to take it.
“Me, Tammy and Fikayo are close friends and we basically grew up together; we are all ’97s. We played at England together… I am proud of my close friends and I am happy to see them playing in the Premier League but, for me, I am just solely focused on myself.”
That all sounds fair enough. Injuries and poorly chosen loans by the club have really held back his development, but his talent isn’t going anywhere, and some consistency picked up at a lower level could end up catapulting him up a level, just as it did with his old mates.
