Chelsea teenager Jude Soonsup-Bell has penned his first professional contract with the club after turning 17.

The striker joined the club as an under-13 from Swindon Town having mainly been deployed as a midfielder. But it didn’t long for those at Cobham to see he could turn out as a striker and that’s where he has stayed ever since.

The teenager made his bow for the Blues under-18s in the 2019/20 season and was also selected for England under-16s in the same campaign.

His 2020/21 season got off to a flier as well as he netted four goals in an FA Youth Cup game against Barnsley before also netting on his first start for the development (under-23) team in a Premier League 2 victory over Manchester United.

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Soonsup-Bell turned 17 on Sunday and had been training with the Blues senior players over the last week in the build-up to the FA Cup third round tie against Morecambe.

The teenage frontman didn’t make the matchday squad however as only Tino Anjorin, who came on as a late substitute at Stamford Bridge.

Writing on social media, Soonsup-Bell posted a very short message which said: “Very happy to have signed my first professional contract @ChelseaFC Hard work continues.

Lampard called up Soonsup-Bell along with four ther development squad players last week for training and while it easd only Anjorin who saw minutes, the Blues boss felt the benefit of having the other youngsters around his senior stars.

“It’s a great experience for them and it’s something I’ve wanted to do and last season was able to do pre-restart,” Lampard said.

“It helps training because it’s really important to have competitive training and having young players enables you to be really competitive with killing the other players physically in between games.

“We’ve had a long week and they’ve been really able to help that. They’ve also been able to show their qualities and it’s always great to gauge young players to see how quickly they take to the football side of training but also how their personalities react to the uplift in pressure and level in training.

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“It’s something I’ve always believed passionately for the club and I have seen a lot out of all of those players that have come to train with us.

"They are real potential for us and there are lots of steps for them in many different ways, but I’ve been really pleased to do it.

“It’s good for the older players because they can speak to the younger lads and help them. And for the young players, it shows what they can aspire to."