Chelsea land dream Champions League scenario amid £3m wonderkid transfer boost

Chelsea's 17-year-old striker Dastan Satpaev will face Celtic in the Champions League play-offs. His side, Kairat Almaty, have qualified for the final round before entering the group stage.

Having not played in Europe since the 2022/23 campaign, where they reached the preliminary second round of the Conference League, it is a major step up for Kairat. On Tuesday, they overcame Slovan Bratislava on penalties to set up a tie with Brendan Rodgers' Celtic.

It will be the biggest game of Satpaev's fledgling junior career to date. In fact, the teenager only started playing adult football earlier this year. Previously, he had been in the youth setup but playing up multiple age groups.

Over the course of eight months, in which Chelsea advanced to buy him for under £3million, Satpaev has taken to the senior game like a duck to water. He has scored eight times with seven assists in the Kazakhstan Premier League from 19 games.

Kairat top the division by three points, leading Astana, who Chelsea faced in the Conference League group phase last term. It was on this trip - a Baltic December journey to Asia, and Almaty - where Chelsea got the Satpaev deal over the line.

He will not join them until he turns 18 next summer. By that stage, it is not impossible that Satpaev has eight Champions League proper matches under his belt.

Although Celtic will be the favourites, it is worth comparing Kairat to their opponents in the second round, Slovan Bratislava. They got into the Champions League last season and played Manchester City. They were duly beaten 4-0, but it is not inconceivable that Kairat do manage to scrap their way in.

That would be an almighty experience for Satpaev. His club last made the group stage of a UEFA competition in 2021/22 when they entered the Conference League but went out after playing Omonia Nicosia, Basel, and Qarabag.

In March, Satpaev made his senior international debut for Kazakhstan and has played twice more since. He is yet to score but is already way ahead of his years, starting a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein in the World Cup qualifiers.

Satpaev appeared to have skipped Under-21 football for his country, going from the Under-17s, where he debuted as a 15-year-old and scored four times in 10 games. However, earlier this season he went back to the Under-21s for a round of matches before being recalled into the main Kazakhstan group.

Chelsea will be watching his progress closely and know that there is a chance they could face him next season. If Kairat get past Celtic (with the two-legged tie to be played on Wednesday, August 20 in Scotland and then the return on Tuesday, August 26) then they will enter the main group phase draw.

That would secure a minimum (but likely absolute maximum) of eight matches against clubs of varying levels of the top tier of European football. For Chelsea and Satpaev, it would be a chance to test his ability on the biggest stage.

It is both an opportunity to help raise his profile and increase his price and possibly sell-on profit further down the line, should he not make it at Stamford Bridge. It is a win-win for Satpaev, his current club, and the one he aspires to play for in the future.

The Champions League draw will be held on August 28 once all of the group phase participants are finalised. For Chelsea, simply qualifying via their fourth place finish in the Premier League last season is worth at least £15.7million. Even if they lose every game, that is a guaranteed income.

They will hope that Satpaev could bring them more than that figure by the time he leaves SW6. This may well be the first step on that long road.

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