Cobham Kids: A New Series

Lets pay some attention to how good Cobham is just for a little while...

Good Evening Ladies and Gents,

Today I am starting a new series on this site to look back (and in to the future) at just how good our academy is.

Lets please not use the comments to slate the board or anything about the young signings we have made over the last couple of years and just appreciate Cobham for being Cobham

So todays ‘Cobham Kid’ in question is none other than current first teamer’s older brother, Nathaniel……… The OG Chalobah.

A hit and miss time within Chelsea’s first team for Nate, he went on loan 6 times whilst at Chelsea. His first loan spell was to Watford in the 2012/13 season he made 42 appearances and scored 5 goals in his first taste of senior football where he was just 18 at the time.

The following season came a loan move to Nottingham Forest that didn’t quite work out, he made just 12 appearances and scored 2 goals, the 2013/14 season saw a loan spell at Middlesbrough where he played 19 times and scored just the one goal.

All of his loan spells so far had been in the championship, he then got his first premier league break at Burnley on loan at the start of the 2014/15 season, a notoriously hard team to break into under Sean Dyche, Chalobah failed to do just that and made just the 4 appearances before dropping back in to the Championship for the 2nd half of the season with Reading where he made 20 appearances.

The following season bought the weirdest loan and I remember being stunned at the time reading the headline, he went on loan to the Serie A and Napoli……. it didn’t quite workout although he performed well when given the chance, he only made 9 appearances which was enough to convince Antonio Conte to put him in to his Chelsea squad the following season.

Mainly a substitute through the 2016/17 season, Nate played 15 times during that unforgettable campaign and his best memory must be the picture above…….

After Chelsea:

That season bought to an end Nate’s time at Chelsea, moving on to Watford permanently that summer where he spent 4 injury-hit seasons making just 85 appearances before heading back to West London in the summer of 2021 to Fulham where he also had some injury issues and played just 28 games in 2 seasons.

He moved on to West Brom in the winter transfer window of 2023 and has made over 40 appearances in the year he has been at West Brom.

29 now and in a settled surrounding hopefully Nate will continue to play games and stay injury free, I would love to see him back in the PL one day!!

Nate made his solo senior international appearance for England away to Spain in 2018 and at one point he held 2nd place in England Under 21s all time appearances with 40, after debuting at just 17 years old!

Thanks for reading and let me know which ‘Cobham Kid’ you want me to look at next.

Luke Rushbrook