If Harvey Vale had his way as a youngster, the Chelsea starlet would have shared the same name as his boyhood idol Cristiano Ronaldo. Only an intervention from his parents prevented the youngster from pursuing it further — and today, he is relieved to just be himself.
"My mum told me this story recently that I kept begging her and my dad to change my name to [Cristiano] Ronaldo. Thankfully, they didn’t let me! It would be a bit embarrassing now, but I was in love with him as a kid,” Vale told the club’s official website.
The trend of Chelsea academy graduates making the step up to the first team has seen Mason Mount and Reece James tread the short path from the academy centre to the first-team 'phase 3' area, separated by a small zebra crossing. And there are high hopes that Vale, 18, can follow in their literal footsteps on a permanent basis after training with Tuchel's squad.
