Chelsea star keen on Bafana, but may face hurdle | Breaking News

A Chelsea youth player is keen on donning the Bafana Bafana jersey in the near future.

Joshua Royston Brooking may not be a familiar name in South African football circles, but that might be a thing of the past as the defender continues to make waves in the youth setup of former European champions Chelsea Football Club.

Brooking was born in England to a South African father and an English mother, but he has massive admiration for his father’s country, which he visits every summer (June) at the end of each season.

A hard-tackling centre back, the 19-year-old joined Chelsea from Reading at the start of the 2018/19 campaign and has made over 100 appearances for both the Under 18 and Under 23 development sides – this includes over 15 appearances in the Uefa Youth League.

He can also play as a right-back in defence and is a strong, aggressive defender who has represented England at Under 16 level.

After 12 appearances for the Under 18 team in the 2019/20 season, Brooking signed his first professional contract with Chelsea, keeping him at the club until June 2022.

FARPost caught up with the player’s representative Anthony McFarlen of Base Agency, and he revealed that the teenager has a desire to don the green and gold jersey one day.

“Thank you very much for reaching out to us; this is a subject that has been discussed with Josh (Brooking) and his family over the years.

“Josh is very keen on representing South Africa, but there might be some difficulties with his dad’s papers as they have expired, and he hasn’t renewed them.

“So I think there is going to be some difficulties in getting Josh to play, but if there was a way or a means for the South African Football Association (Safa) to assist in resolving the matter, then it could be resolved, but I think the matter is a little complicated than we first expected.”

The former Reading youth player joins a growing list of youngsters with South African roots who are harnessing their skills at some of the best academies in the world.

Attacking midfielder Khanya Leshabela is with former English champions Leicester City, central midfielder Kgaogelo Chauke is the current captain of Southampton’s reserves, and Ajax Amsterdam duo Lucas Jetten and Daniel Jordan are getting rave reviews in the Netherlands.

At the same time, Vitesse Arnhem striker Simon Van Duivenbooden recently made his first-team debut for the Eredivisie side.

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