Chelsea Stars Buurman and Thompson Shortlisted for PFA Young Player
Chelsea’s next generation has arrived, and their peers have taken notice.
Two of the club’s breakout performers, Buurman and Thompson, have been shortlisted for England’s Young Player of the Year, an award voted for by fellow professionals and often a marker of future dominance rather than fleeting form.
For both, this recognition comes at the end of their first full season in Chelsea blue. It did not take long to make an impression.
Buurman’s Journey
Buurman’s route to the shortlist has been anything but straightforward. She officially joined Chelsea in September 2024, only to head straight back to PSV on loan. The real work began last summer, when she was folded into the first-team squad and told to prove she belonged. Twenty-four appearances later, across all competitions, that question has been answered.
Her defining moment so far came in the FA Cup. In a high-stakes quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur, Buurman produced her first Chelsea goal – and did it with style. It was the kind of strike that sticks in the memory, the sort that changes how team-mates look at you and how opponents prepare for you.
Thompson’s Impact
If Buurman’s rise has been sharp, Thompson’s has been relentless.
Signed last summer from Angel City, the 21-year-old did not ease her way into English football; she tore straight into it. Thompson featured 33 times during the 2025/26 campaign, the joint-highest appearance tally in the squad alongside Erin Cuthbert – a statistic that says as much about her reliability as it does about her talent.
She backed up that consistency with end product. Nine goals in all competitions made her Chelsea’s second-highest scorer behind Sam Kerr, a remarkable return for a young player still adjusting to a new league, a new country and the demands of a club that expects to compete on every front.
Those numbers, and the manner in which she posted them, have carried her onto a prestigious six-player shortlist that carries a clear Chelsea imprint. A full third of the nominees come from the club, underlining the depth of emerging quality in the squad.
Standing alongside Buurman and Thompson are Laura Blindkilde Brown of Manchester City, Freya Godfrey of London Lionesses, Tottenham Hotspur’s Toko Koga and Arsenal’s Olivia Smith. It is a cross-section of the brightest young talent in the domestic game, all vying for an honour that tends to age well on a CV.
The verdict will come at the PFA’s annual awards ceremony, staged this year at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday 25 August. Under the lights, in a room full of the game’s elite, one name will be read out.
If it belongs to Buurman or Thompson, it will not just confirm a fine debut season. It will signal that Chelsea’s future is arriving faster than anyone expected.
