Who is Sam Rak-Sakyi? The tricky Chelsea youngster forcing bold Enzo Maresca squad decision

Having already come off the bench twice for Chelsea's senior team, young midfielder Sam Rak-Sakyi could be set to make his first start for the club. He is one of 11 Cobham academy graduates to be promoted into Enzo Maresca's squad.

With a long trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana, heading an extra 1,000 miles away from the natural home stadium to instead play in freezing conditions in Almaty, Chelsea have opted to rotate their group even more than usual. Instead of turning to a handful of development squad players, the bulk are made up of those from the academy.

In a bid to keep senior players fit and fresh, not only has Maresca left out Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, and Marc Cucurella (as well as plenty of others) but even Conference League regulars Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku have not been risked. In their place, a host of hopeful budding youngsters have been given a chance to impress.

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Among them is Rak-Sakyi, who made his debut in the 8-0 win over Noah last month. He nearly scored having come on as a late substitute at Stamford Bridge and would go on to make another late appearance at Heidenheim as well.

Of the midfielders selected, Rak-Sakyi may well find himself thrust into the spotlight on Thursday. Here, football.london has the low-down on the 19-year-old.

Who is Sam Rak-Sakyi?

Brother of former Chelsea academy prospect Jeserun Rak-Sakyi - now at Crystal Palace but on loan to Sheffield United - Sam is a buzzing midfielder. Similar to Kiano Dyer, who joins him in the squad to face Astana, Rak-Sakyi is extremely comfortable on the ball.

Having been at the club for over a decade, he is now a key player in Felipe Coelho's Under-21/Development Squad team featuring in the Premier League 2. Often playing a deeper role when picking up possession from the back, Rak-Sakyi is adept at turning away from pressure and launching attacks with an array of passes.

Born in London in March 2005 (just one month before Chelsea were first crowned Premier League champions under Jose Mourinho), Rak-Sakyi has overcome injury problems to make himself a mainstay in the academy sides.

He is on a two-year contract at Chelsea and describes his playstyle as being " a technical player that likes to get onto the ball and also on the defensive side I try to work as hard as I can to win the ball back for the team." Speaking to the club earlier this year, he said: "My goal is to play as much games as I can for the 21s and to continue to progress and try to get some minutes for the first team."

Rak-Sakyi added: "I've worked very hard to get to where I am today and it's a dream come true to be playing for my club. It means everything to me because I've been here since I was eight years old so it's been a long journey and I'm hoping to progress and to do much more things at this club."