Former Arsenal cult hero tips his son to be playing in Chelsea’s first-team next season

Former Arsenal right-back Emmanuel Eboue has backed his son Mathis Eboue as a possible contender for first-team football at Chelsea next season.

Eboue’s son has been with the Chelsea academy for some time, and the former Ivory Coast international thinks he’s in the right place for his development due to the Blues’ policy of trusting their youth players.

Despite his connections to Arsenal, where he played over 200 games between 2005 and 2011, Eboue doesn’t mind his son playing for their rivals Chelsea, and hopes it will mean he can get some senior football under his belt soon.

Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction, Eboue said: “I’m very, very proud of Mathis, and very happy for him. When he was very young, I didn’t really think my boy would go on and be such a good player, to be honest. You know, he used to play a lot with me at home, because he loved football. I’m very proud of him for getting to where he is today. I always pray for him, and I hope he achieves his dream.

“It doesn’t matter, for me, that he’s doing this in a Chelsea shirt, and I’m an ex-Arsenal player. When he was younger he was playing for Watford and doing really well there, and then one day he told me that Chelsea wanted to sign him. I said it was completely up to him what he wanted to do, and like I said I’m just really happy with how things are going for him.”

He added: “For me, at 16, nearly 17, I think I would want to stay at the club, because you can see how much they like to use their younger players – so for him, I think it’s better to stay at Chelsea, because when he turns 17 very soon, they’re going to look to use him – maybe next season.

If Eboue ends up playing for Chelsea, he’ll join a few other big names on the list of current players whose fathers also played in the Premier League.

Chelsea have one on their books already in the form of talented young striker Liam Delap, whose father Rory Delap played for the likes of Southampton and Stoke City.

Then there’s Erling Haaland at Manchester City, the same club his father Alfie Haaland also played for.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth have Justin Kluivert on their books, the son of former Newcastle and Netherlands star Patrick Kluivert.

It will be interesting to see what kind of career Eboue can carve out for himself.

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