[FREE READ] Inspired by Ronaldo, watched by Palmer: How Kavuma-McQueen became Chelsea’s latest rising star

Ryan Kavuma-McQueen was just eight years old when his father Dennis first sat him down and started showing him footage of his favourite player Ronaldo — the one of Brazil fame.

“I loved Ronaldo because he was the man,” Dennis tells The Athletic. “He would go past players on his right foot and left foot so easily, and find the finish. We sat there in the house and watched clips together, or Ryan put on YouTube when he was in the back of the car. Ryan would see Ronaldo do something and say, ‘I want to do that on the pitch too’.

“Nowadays, kids might not just sit there and watch games, but Ryan always has. He has watched more and more Chelsea games over the past few years. That’s the team he wants to break in to, the pathway he sees.”

Anyone who has seen Kavuma-McQueen starring in Chelsea’s academy or for England’s youth teams in recent years might appreciate how watching some of Ronaldo’s magic has rubbed off. Type in “Kavuma-McQueen goal” on X and you will see strikes of the highest quality for club and country. A superb shot in a 4-0 win for Chelsea Under-21s over Wolverhampton Wanderers a few weeks ago added many more admirers to those Chelsea followers already demanding to see a senior debut for the first team.

The 17-year-old has come close. He was an unused substitute on two occasions in the Champions League this season, against Ajax (aged still only 16) in the group phase and for the second leg of Chelsea’s last-16 tie versus Paris Saint-Germain. There have been other games, such as Wrexham in the FA Cup fifth round, where he has travelled with the senior squad only to be left out as the 19th man.

Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at home to League One side Port Vale is looking like the next possibility for senior game time.

“I may shed a tear if he gets on the pitch,” his mother Alison says. “It is not the end goal, but it is another step to where he wants to be. It would be a good end to the season. He has worked hard for it.”