
Charly Musonda, once predicted to be a future superstar for Chelsea and Belgium, has retired from football at just 28 years old.
The winger joined the Chelsea academy from Anderlecht in 2012 and big things were expected of him, starring in the Blues youth sides that racked up silverware at the time.
However, he only ever made seven first team appearances for the Blues, spending time away from the club on loan at Real Betis, Celtic and Vitesse.
Injuries badly hampered the Belgian and he eventually left Chelsea permanently in 2022 for Spanish side Levante, then moved to Cypriot outfit Anorthis a year later.
Musonda left his final club last year and has now confirmed that he has hung up his boots for good.
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‘It took some time. I have been thinking about it for the last couple of years,’ Musonda told Rising Ballers. ‘Purely because of my own experiences and who I am as a person.
‘I want to be doing things with purpose. I want to inspire and motivate people. I want to create opportunities. I am starting something new that will hopefully help players.

‘Today, I have made a decision. It is a decision I have been wrestling with for a long time, but I am going to retire from professional football. It is not an easy decision, but I am building up towards the next stage now.
‘I will still be involved in football. In roles to help players express themselves and giving them an opportunity to showcase how good they are.
‘I’m still young but I want to help players who don’t have the chance to showcase their talent.
‘I know how it feels and with football changing so much, many players never get the opportunity to show what they can do, I want to make a difference.’

Musonda’s worst injury was picked up while on loan at Vitesse, suffering a knee problem which left doctors predicting he would never play again.
He did make a return to the pitch and played for Chelsea’s Under-23 side as he built back his fitness, but left Stamford Bridge when his contract ended in 2022, something which he says damaged him badly.
‘The exit killed me. It killed me mentally. It was the worst thing,’ he said.
‘I was obviously with the reserves at that time so the plan was to pick up with the reserves, get some training in and if there were a few games where I could fit in toward the back end of the season, that was the plan.
‘Because I literally had just gotten better. I came back in December-January and was training with the reserves. Feeling amazing, happy to be back—obviously it was a long way for me to be fully fit, but just being able to train was amazing.

‘The first team was doing really well. It was COVID, so the buildings were split and you wouldn’t really see the first team.
‘Then toward the back end of the season in the car park I ran into Thomas Tuchel, the manager.
‘They were getting ready for the semi-final of the Champions League and he just said, “How are you feeling? How are things going?”
‘It was my first time meeting him. He said, “I’m looking forward to seeing you back” and I said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back for pre-season.”
‘Because in my mind, it was always pre-season and I’d be back with the first team and we’d see from there. So I came back for pre-season and that’s where things got tricky. That was the end of my time at Chelsea.’