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Former Arsenal right-back Emmanuel Eboué has backed his son Mathis Éboué as a possible suitor for first-team football at Chelsea next season.
Eboue’s son has been with Chelsea’s academy for some time, and the former Ivory Coast international believes he is in the right place for his development due to the Blues’ policy of trusting their young players.
Despite his links to Arsenal, where he made over 200 appearances between 2005 and 2011, Eboué has no concerns about his son playing for rivals Chelsea, and hopes it will allow him to get some senior football under his belt soon.
Arsenal hero Emmanuel Eboué backs son for Chelsea breakthrough in near future
Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction, Eboué said: “I’m very, very proud of Mathis and very happy for him. When he was very young, I didn’t really think that my boy would go on and be such a good player, to be honest. You know, he played with me a lot 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 hope that he will make his dream come true.
“It doesn’t matter to me that he’s doing that in a Chelsea shirt, and I’m a former Arsenal player. When he was younger, he played for Watford and did really well there, and then one day he told me Chelsea wanted to sign him. I said it was entirely up to him what he wanted to do, and like I said, I’m really, really happy with the way things are going for him.”
He added: “For me, at 16, almost 17, I think I would like to stay at the club, because you can see how much they like to use their young players – so for him, I think it’s better to stay at Chelsea, because when he turns 17 very soon they will be looking to use him – maybe next season.
Fathers and sons of Premier League footballers
If Eboué ends up playing for Chelsea, he will join a few other big names on the list of current players whose fathers also played in the Premier League.
Chelsea already have one in their ranks in the form of talented young striker Liam Delap, whose father Rory Delap played for 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 in their ranks, the son of former Newcastle and Netherlands star Patrick Kluivert.
It will be interesting to see what kind of career Eboué can forge.
