Chelsea decide against sending Nigerian teenage sensation Tyrique George out on loan

ENGLISH Premier League giants Chelsea have told all the suitors looking to sign Nigeria-eligible teenager Tyrique George to hands off the winger as they plan to use him having just promoted him to the first team at Stamford Bridge.

Last summer George, 18, signed a new three year contract that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2026/27 season. He has now formally made the transition to the Chelsea first team from its youth academy and is looking to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Ola Aina and Eddie Newton.

George travelled with Chelsea's first team to the US for pre-season preparations, where he featured in matches against Wrexham, Celtic and Club América. He then debuted for Chelsea’s senior team in a Uefa Conference League qualifier against Servette FC in August and has since made seven additional appearances for the first team.

At the moment, George is behind Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Mykhailo Mudryk, Christopher Nkunku and Jadon Sancho in manager Enzo Maresca's pecking order of forwards.  However, the Italian football tactician wants him, Marc Guiu and Josh Acheampong to remain at Chelsea, rather than being loaned out to a club where they are guaranteed more playing time during the January transfer window.

Mr Maresca said: "With young players like Marc, like Josh, like Tyrique, for me, the best thing for them is to be with us because they can understand every day the way we want to play. They can grow, we can teach them how we want them to play so I think it's better if they stay with us."

George has played non-stop at Chelsea since he was snapped up as a school kid and he made his competitive debut in the U18 Premier League in his final season as a schoolboy. Last season, George scored 12 goals and provided six assists in 21 all-competition appearances for Chelsea's U18s, who are coached by Nigerian tactician Hassan Sulaiman.