Nathaniel Chalobah

Nathaniel Nyakie Chalobah (born 12 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for the EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion.

Born in Sierra Leone, he has represented the England national team.

After initially joining the academy system at Fulham, Chalobah moved to the Chelsea academy at the age of 10.

During the 2010–11 season, he featured for Chelsea reserves while still a schoolboy, winning the national championship with the team that season.

In 2011–12, Chalobah regularly captained both Chelsea's reserve and youth teams, and led the 2012 FA Youth Cup winning team.

He signed a professional contract with Chelsea in January 2012 shortly after turning 17, lasting until summer 2014.

He was an unused substitute for the Chelsea first-team at the age of 15, in their League Cup clash against Newcastle and travelled with them to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final at the Allianz Arena, which Chelsea won.

Chalobah signed on loan for Championship club Watford on 31 August 2012 until January 2013.

He made his first-team debut for the club on 18 September 2012 against Brighton & Hove Albion, coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Fernando Forestieri.

He later made his first start, lasting the full 90 minutes in Watford's 2–2 draw with Bristol City on 23 September.

On 17 November, Chalobah scored his first goal for Watford in a 2–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He scored his second goal for Watford in a 1–1 draw against Burnley, on 15 December, with a fine volley from the edge of the box.

On 30 August 2013, Chalobah signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea, stating that he wished to stay at Chelsea for his entire career.

On 2 January 2013, Chalobah extended his loan at Watford until the end of the 2012–13 season.

In April, he scored with a 35-yard shot that Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said he never saw; Watford won 2–1.

Chalobah played for Watford as they reached the 2013 Championship play-off final, in which they were defeated 1–0 by Crystal Palace.

On 19 September 2013 Chalobah signed a loan deal with Nottingham Forest until 15 January 2014.

Manager Billy Davies remarked upon his arrival, "He's a tremendous young talent."

Chalobah made his debut from the start in Forest's trip to Doncaster Rovers on 21 September 2013.

On 5 October 2013, Chalobah was sent off after a second booking in the 67th minute after already picking up a yellow in the first half during the away match against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Though Forest were down to 10 men, they saw out a 3–1 victory.

Chalobah scored his first Forest goal in a 3–1 defeat away to Yeovil Town on 26 October 2013.

On 16 January 2014, Chalobah joined Middlesbrough on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.

On 25 January 2014, Chalobah made his debut against Leicester City, coming off the bench in the 77th minute to replace Emmanuel Ledesma.

The match ended in a 2–0 loss for Middlesbrough.

Chalobah made his first start on 1 February 2014, in a match against Doncaster Rovers which ended in a 0–0 draw.

On 5 April 2014, Chalobah scored his first Boro goal in a 1–0 win at home to Derby County.

On 1 September 2014, Chalobah joined Premier League newcomers Burnley on loan from Chelsea until 2 January 2015.

On 28 September 2014, Chalobah made his debut as a first-half substitute against West Bromwich Albion, although he could not prevent Burnley from losing 4–0.

On 30 September, Chalobah suffered an injury after being hit with an elbow in the throat in a Burnley U21s match, which caused a cartilage to fracture.

Chalobah returned to the pitch for the first team on 18 October 2014 against West Ham United.

On 1 November 2014, Chalobah played his last match for Burnley against Arsenal, which ended in a 3–0 loss.

Chalobah was unable to break into the first team at Burnley and returned to Chelsea when the loan ended on 2 January 2015.

During his time with Burnley, Chalobah only made four substitute appearances.

On 22 January 2015, Chalobah joined Championship club Reading on loan for the remainder of the season.

On 24 January 2015, Chalobah made his debut in a FA Cup match against Cardiff City, as the team won 2–1 to advance into the fifth round.

Three days later, Chalobah made his league debut against Millwall.

On 31 January 2015, in his home debut, Chalobah scored the second of a 2–0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, helping the Royals to their first league win since December.

During his time with Reading, Chalobah made a total of 20 appearances and started in every appearance.

On 1 September 2015, Italian club Napoli confirmed that Chalobah had joined the club on a season long loan from Chelsea.