The 21-year-old enjoyed her breakthrough in Emma Hayes' final season and has started the Sonia Bompastor era in impressive form
For many, Aggie Beever-Jones' first England call-up came much later than it should've. It was only after a remarkable 2024-25 campaign had come to an end that she was officially included in one of Sarina Wiegman's squads, after she had averaged a goal every 62 minutes for a title-winning Chelsea team. But how her breakthrough season panned out was a perfect encapsulation of the difficulties she faces in making her mark at the highest level for club and country.
To break through at Chelsea as an academy product is not easy, not in this day and age. The Blues have won each of the last five Women's Super League titles and have become a genuine force in the Champions League, meaning the standard in the first team is among the very best in the entire women's game. That's a level that the young players need to match, one way or another.
It's especially difficult to come through as a forward, too. Beever-Jones has been battling with the likes of Sam Kerr, Lauren James and Catarina Macario for game time in the forward line – and those are just three of the Blues' 10 senior international attackers. It's a challenge that extends to England, where she spent last season falling just short of making the cut in squads that featured established stars like Beth Mead, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly.
But that she forced her way into the Chelsea team, that she eventually got that Lionesses call-up and that she looks set to be an even more important player for her club this season is all a testament to Beever-Jones' talent and work ethic. And as the Blues' Champions League campaign gets under way, she'll be keen to show that she is capable of performing at a consistently high level on the biggest stages – not just to help her club in their bid for that elusive European title, but with one eye on next summer's European Championship, too.
GettyMaking the most of the loan system
Every academy talent has a different path into senior football and Beever-Jones' came through the loan system, with her steadily progressing to the level required at Chelsea through a spell in the second tier with Bristol City and a season in the top-flight at Everton. A quick look at the numbers from both stints and neither jumps off the page, but it was the experience accrued, rather than the goals scored, that laid the foundation for her Chelsea breakthrough.
"You need that game time to experiment, try new things and make mistakes," Beever-Jones would later tell of the benefits of going to Bristol, while highlighting her time at Everton as important to develop her defensive traits.
AdvertisementGettyTaking her opportunities
When she came back to Chelsea for pre-season in the summer of 2023, then, she was an improved player in many areas. Still, she wasn't going to be granted game time in such a competitive squad. Beever-Jones had to work hard for every minute she got and take her opportunities when they came her way. It's fair to say she did that.
Despite being granted just six starts in the WSL, the rest of her 17 appearances coming from the bench, Beever-Jones ended the 2023-24 campaign with 11 goals, a tally only bettered on the Chelsea team by James' 13. She also scored in every league start, a feat she has continued into the new season after netting against Crystal Palace last month.
"For me, it's all about her attitude and her mentality," Chelsea captain Millie Bright said this week. "It all comes down to that. She's always been like a sponge in our environment, just trying to learn from some of the best players that we've got in terms of her position and then executing in training and when she gets her opportunity. Whether it's five minutes, 10, 20, starting games, she takes her chances."
GettyProviding an option
This year, it looks like the starts will become much more regular. Kerr's ACL injury in January was followed by Mia Fishel suffering the same devastating fate just a few weeks later, depriving Chelsea of two senior international strikers not just for the second half of Emma Hayes' final season in charge, but also for the first half of Sonia Bompastor's first campaign.
Hayes dipped into the January market and splashed the cash on Mayra Ramirez, an outstanding talent who has been at the forefront of Colombia's rise in women's football. However, she has picked up a few knocks while getting used to the rigours of playing every three days, and in a more physical domestic league, meaning all three of Chelsea's natural No.9s have been sidelined at the same time on numerous occasions.
Fortunately, in a squad with the quality and depth of the Blues', both coaches have other options. Macario, the United States star who can play essentially any attacking role, is one and Beever-Jones, who came through as a wide player, is another.
USA TODAY SportsStepping up
That said, Beever-Jones has earned her chances. She has not just been given them because needs must, though it is worth mentioning the absentees because she has had big shoes to fill and has done so admirably. Her performances in the No.9 role are all the more impressive because it's not something she is particularly natural in, either.
“Being in a squad like we are, you have to get used to sometimes playing out of position," she said last season. "I’ve grown up playing on the wing, but I’ve come here and transitioned more into a nine. I see it as a positive that I can understand the game from different aspects."
That versatility is an asset when it comes to getting minutes in a competitive Chelsea team, and a competitive England team, and it is useful for her coaches, too. During last month's 7-0 thrashing of Palace, it was as a No.9 that Beever-Jones started the game and in that role that she scored with a well-taken finish. But after the second-half introduction of Ramirez, she ended the match out wide, where she continued to be a menace – just a more creative one.
