Islam Feruz was born in Kismayo, Somalia, and spent most of his youth career at Scottish side Celtic. Islam moved to London at the age of 5, before moving to Scottish city, Glasgow.
Islam was scouted by Celtic's youth coach John Simpson aged only 10 where he impressed, and was playing for the Celtic under 14 side at the tender age of 11.
Islam was scouted by Celtic's youth coach John Simpson aged only 10 where he impressed, and was playing for the Celtic under 14 side at the tender age of 11.
Disaster struck when Islam was 12, as his family were threatened to be deported back to his place of birth in Somalia, however youth coach Tommy Burns successfully fought their case for them to be kept in Scotland, and gain a British passport. Thankfully!
Islam continued to impress at Celtic, but this gained attention from some of the big clubs in England. It was reported that Feruz had contact with Manchester City before signing for Chelsea in September 2011 - choosing this over a professional contract at Celtic for a fee of £300,000.
Ever since his move, Islam Feruz has impressed massively at Chelsea. Islam scored on his under 18 debut at the Blues away to Portsmouth. By the end of the calender year Islam had netted six times for Chelsea, before being promoted to the reserve squad. Islam finished the season with 12 goals for the youth team and two for the reserves. Islam scored two goals in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final in 2012, and was also the teams top scorer in the competition with five goals as Chelsea went on to win it.
Feruz decided to play for Scotland although he had no Scottish heritage, as he had been studying in Scotland for five years, and he was the first footballer to play for Scotland under this rule. Feruz was called up to the under 17 Scotland squad aged only 14, and scored on his debut against Cyprus. In April 2012, Islam was part of the Scotland under 21 team for a match against Italy, making him the youngest 'Scot' to feature for them.
Feruz is a great player on the pitch, and is sure to be world-class in around five years time. The under 21 game seems too easy for him at the moment, and he's scoring for fun with 13 goals in 18 games in the league, and four in the Next-Gen series.
Islam is a very fast player, who has an eye for goal as well as a pass. Standing at only 5"5, Islam doesn't win many ariel threats, but when the ball is being played on the ground he weaves in and out of defenders with his incredible agility.
It baffles me why Feruz hasn't even seen bench time for the full squad this season. Fernando Torres is useless to say the least, and Demba Ba can't play every game. Tonight for example against Bucharest would have been a perfect game for Islam to be part of. We had four defenders on the bench, and no substitute striker - there would have been no harm with including Islam on the bench. Even if he didn't feature in the match it would have been great experience for the young lad.
The best thing to do in my opinion is to send Islam out on loan next season to a Championship side. Watford would be a good destination, as Nathaniel Chalobah has impressed massively working under Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola. Feruz would be no short of competition however, with Vydra and Deeney scoring 34 between them.
Brighton may also be a good choice for Feruz. Brighton play nice fast flowing football, and I think he could get in ahead of Ashley Barnes and maybe even Craig Mackail-Smith.
Brighton may also be a good choice for Feruz. Brighton play nice fast flowing football, and I think he could get in ahead of Ashley Barnes and maybe even Craig Mackail-Smith.
For now, Islam will just continue to prove he is worthy of a loan move playing for the under21's. I expect him to go on tour with Chelsea in Asia, and we'll see what happens from there.
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