Premier League debut player: Chelsea striker Jamie Gittens

Premier League debut player aspirations: Chelsea striker Jamie Gittens (English U21 representative)

The 2025-26 Premier League season officially kicked off. This article focuses on Jamie Gittens, the representative striker of England U21 who joined Chelsea. The biggest feature of this 20-year-old star who came from Manchester City's youth training and joined for a transfer fee of 55 million pounds (about 10.9 billion yen) is his biggest feature of the impactful dribbling breakthrough ability. What kind of answer will this young genius, who is highly anticipated, give in the top league in his home country England?

Last season, Gittens played for Bundesliga powerhouse Dortmund, contributing 8 goals and 4 assists in 23 Bundesliga games. Although his chances of playing less after Niko Kovac took office as head coach, he still handed out impressive numbers in his limited appearance time. At the same time, he also showed outstanding competitiveness in European stadiums. In the Champions League, he helped the team reach the quarterfinals and scored 4 goals in the knockout stage, fully demonstrating his potential. These experiences accumulated in international competitions will become an important capital for him to meet the challenges of the Premier League.

Gittens's most prominent advantage lies in his strong dribbling breakthrough ability. He tried to break through 171 times in the Bundesliga last season, ranking first in the league. The number of breakthroughs per game is far superior to Chelsea's existing wide players. Because of this, he is regarded as a "immediate combat power" that can immediately inject propulsion into the team's offense.

The tactical system of current Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca emphasizes that widening the width, actively rushing forward, and having the ability to score directly. Gittens's technical characteristics are highly consistent with this tactical concept. However, his competition on the wing is also extremely fierce. In addition to last season's main winger Pedro Neto, the newly joined forward Esteban William and other players are also eyeing each other, and it is not easy to lock in the main position. For Gittens, the performance at the beginning of the season will be a key test.

In the Premier League opening game, Chelsea drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace away. Gittens started to make his Premier League debut, but failed to create a decisive opportunity and was replaced in the second half. During the game, he also showed his discomfort to the high-intensity confrontation in the Premier League. However, at the age of 20, he already has rich experience in top European competitions, and his terrifying breakthrough ability will undoubtedly provide the team with a brand new offensive choice. If he can quickly show his value at the beginning of the season, he will be able to establish his main position in one fell swoop.