Franco Di Santo

Name:	Franco Di Santo
Nationality:	Argentinian
Date of Birth:	07/04/1989
Height:	6' 4" (193cm)
Weight:	13st 1lbs (83.0kg)
Position:	Striker

The latest youngster to progress from reserves into the first team squad, the 19-year-old Di Santo joined Chelsea in January 2008, having previously played for Chilean side Audux Italiano La Florida.

Franco quickly made himself at home in England, after signing a four-and-a-half-year deal, and went into the reserve team squad.

There he flourished, scoring seven times in eight games, turning around a winless streak of 11 matches into six games undefeated.

Two penalties and a superb volley registered a hat-trick away at Tottenham, while he also put away an important equaliser at Arsenal.

A tall and industrious striker, the Argentine under-20 international describes his style as similar to that of former Blue and countryman Hernan Crespo.

Taken on the club's pre-season tour to China this summer, Franco showed his potential with goals on his first two first-team appearances, against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Chengdu Blades.

There is no doubt though that Di Santo remains one for the future, as new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari explained while in Asia.

'He is a new player, and needs to learn with other players and play more games, train more with us and we are starting to build a player for the future but now he is not ready to play for Chelsea. He is one option for the future,' the Brazilian said.

He clearly influenced Scolari while away though, and was presented with the number 9 jersey for 2008/9, after Steve Sidwell's departure.

This season was always going to be a learning curve for Di Santo, but he has shown glimpses of his quality since making his debut as a sub against Tottenham. Seven substitute appearances were made in 2008 before a torn hamstring against Burnley ruled him out for around six weeks.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	0 (8)	0	0	0
FA Cup	0 (3)	0	0	0
League Cup	0 (2)	0	0	0
Euro Cups	0 (3)	0	0	0