England and USA in tug of war for Chelsea wonderkid

Landon Emenalo, 16, called into England U17s squad after playing for Americans earlier this year

The English Football Association and its United States counterpart are battling for the international allegiance of the latest teenage prodigy with dual nationality, Landon Emenalo, son of former Chelsea director of football, Michael.
Landon, 16, has been named in the latest England Under-17s squad by coach Neil Ryan for age-cohort Euro 2025 qualifiers this month. Landon, a dynamic centre midfielder who has been at Chelsea’s academy throughout his development, played for the US Under-17s earlier this year in a tournament in the Czech Republic.
The US men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino should benefit from a very promising generation of US players coming through at Major League Soccer clubs, and among dual heritage players in Europe.
The market for US players is now beginning to interest Premier League clubs who have increased scouting capacity in MLS. Landon was born in Arizona in 2008, to his US national mother, around the time his father joined his former manager Avram Grant at Chelsea.
Michael first worked as a coach at Chelsea and then a successful director of football with a range of managers and was close to Roman Abramovich. 
He eventually left Chelsea in November 2017 and now works as the director of football at the Saudi Pro League. His description of the atmosphere at Chelsea in the weeks before José Mourinho’s departure in 2015 – “palpable discord” – went down as a memorable epithet for the latter’s second stint.
At Chelsea, Michael helped to recruit the likes of Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kanté, although not all came to superstardom at Chelsea. 
Landon, who grew up a Chelsea fan, is also eligible to play for Nigeria, whom his father represented as a senior professional.
Playing at the 1994 World Cup finals, Michael marked Diego Maradona with distinction in Nigeria’s group game defeat by Argentina in the old Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts. Both were called for drug-testing in the aftermath. It was after that test that one of the greatest scandals in World Cup history broke with Maradona testing positive for cocaine. He never played for Argentina again.
By Ian McCullough
Enzo Maresca says Chelsea captain Reece James will only be able to play one game a week for the foreseeable future ahead of the England international’s long-awaited return to action at Liverpool on Sunday.
James has been blighted by injury throughout his career and has missed 129 games over the last five years. He was unavailable for the 2022 World Cup and this year’s European Championship.
The 24-year-old is still widely regarded as one of England’s best defenders and the appointment of Thomas Tuchel, his former manager at Stamford Bridge, this week should see him return to the international fold if he can string together a run of games in the Premier League.
But Chelsea manager Maresca said the club’s medical staff have told him to limit how often he plays given the struggles James has endured with his troublesome hamstrings.
Maresca said: “It’s complicated when you get injuries over and over again. It’s not easy so you are always looking for a solution.
“Probably the solution with Reece is the same solution we are using with Roméo [Lavia] and Wes [Fofana] in terms of using them just once a week, in one game. Probably at this moment, for different reasons, Reece’s body cannot play twice a week. One of the solutions is to try and manage him.”
The appointment of Tuchel by the FA has already seen him bring in former Chelsea coach Anthony Barry as his assistant and he has also made an approach to his former club for long-time head of performance analysis James Melbourne.
Melbourne has been at Chelsea since 2005 and he could be followed out the door by goalkeeping coach Hilário, who worked with Tuchel during the the club’s Champions League success in 2021.
Maresca said he would not stand in the way of any member of his backroom staff who wanted to join the national team if the chance arises.
He said: “I know that one of them has been approached, one of the analysts. We are quite open for people to leave and take their chances if they want to take it.
“The other one, Hilário, I heard something but there has not been any approach yet.
“This is the only thing I know. We are open-minded in terms of allowing people to take chances and also we are happy to keep people who want to stay, but if they want to go, they can go.”