Wieke Kaptein: The Chelsea and Netherlands teenager impressing Sonia Bompastor and drawing comparisons to Erin Cuthbert

Born in Hengelo, a city in the Twente region in the Netherlands, Kaptein's introduction to football came from playing with her brothers from the age of five. Soon enough, she would start playing for Achilles '12, the local amateur club, in the boys' teams. Indeed, Kaptein played football with the boys for most of her childhood, something which she believes really helped her develop. "You always have to keep up, you always want to be better than the guys," she told GOAL last year.

As a teenager, she would progress into the youth teams at Twente, the club she and her brothers supported growing up. Kaptein's rise from that point was quite sudden. Towards the end of the 2020-21 season, at 15 years old, the midfielder signed a professional contract. A few months later, in the new campaign, her first-team debut followed.

She wasn't done there either, asserting herself as a key player almost immediately. Within two years, she'd played over 50 senior games, experienced Champions League football and won five major trophies.

While followers of the game in the Netherlands were well aware of her talent already, it was in the summer of 2023 that Kaptein really announced herself to a more global audience. That first started to come with the senior national team, for whom the midfielder debuted in April last year.

Despite being a regular in the youth national teams throughout her teenage years, Kaptein never actually played at one of the marquee tournaments in her age groups, most notably missing the 2022 UEFA Under-17 Women's Championship because it clashed with the end of Twente's domestic season, and she was so important to their title bid that she stuck around. But she was soon to make up for that by playing at the biggest tournament of them all.

That’s because Kaptein's breakthrough with the Oranje came at the perfect time, when the World Cup was right around the corner. It was going to be a long shot to make it, but she impressed head coach Andries Jonker enough in the build-up to earn her place. Aged 17, Kaptein made her senior World Cup debut in the 7-0 win over Vietnam.

And yet, there was still something huge around the corner that would make her summer even bigger than it already was. At the beginning of September, shortly after her 18th birthday, Chelsea announced that Kaptein had signed a four-year contract with the club. "It’s a really big club and I’m very honoured to be here," she said.

After being loaned back to Twente for one more season, a campaign that brought with it three more trophies, Kaptein is now making her mark in west London. She impressed throughout pre-season and has won over new head coach Bompastor very quickly with her performance levels, starting three of Chelsea's first six games of the campaign.

Kaptein's role with the national team is only growing, too. That she played in just one of the Netherlands' six games at the World Cup was an indication of her extremely recent breakthrough, but those minutes have only increased with time. It's now much more common to see her starting for the Oranje, as she has three times in their last six games.

There is a lot to like about Kaptein's game. At times a defender in her past before settling almost exclusively into a midfield position, it's perhaps no surprise that her battling qualities stand out. The teenager reads play brilliantly, something clearly enhanced by the number of senior games she has already played, and is fantastic at winning possession back as a result.

She has no problem competing physically in the WSL either, despite being so young and it being a division which is a little more robust than others. Likely aided by her development in boys' football, Kaptein is strong, she doesn't shy away from a tackle and she is full of energy. It's exactly what you need in a midfield player.

In possession, there are also plenty of positives. Last week, Chelsea team-mate Buchanan described the teenager as being "cool and quite laidback", something she believes is evident in how "composed" she is on the pitch. Kaptein is accurate, she makes smart decisions and she has the vision, and the confidence, to be more expansive with her passing, too.

But what will be most encouraging of all to Bompastor at Chelsea, and Jonker with the Netherlands, is how coachable Kaptein is as a player. "She's someone who always wants to get some advice from the staff," Bompastor said last week. With that attitude, she will go far.

There is definitely still more to come from Kaptein in an attacking sense, too. Through 62 league games at Twente, the midfielder only scored six goals and provided eight assists, but the quality of some of those strikes and the obvious ability and range she has in her passing means that those are numbers she can improve on as she takes the next step in her career at Chelsea.

It feels like she is at a club that will allow her to do that as well. The Blues dominate most of the games that they play, which should mean Kaptein has the license to get forward a little more, especially since she will always be alongside another more secure midfielder who can sit as she attacks. There are certainly plenty of top level forwards who will be making runs for her to find as she looks to increase her creativity, too.

Since her arrival at Chelsea, it’s hard not to see the similarities between Kaptein and Erin Cuthbert. The Scotland star has dropped into a deeper role in recent years and become the type of midfielder that breaks up play, battles hard and thrives in doing the dirty work. But Cuthbert is also excellent on the ball and still showcases the creativity and occasional eye for goal that stood out when she was an exciting young forward at Rangers and Glasgow City. It all makes her a brilliant all-rounder in the middle of the park.

The signs are there to suggest Kaptein can develop into a similar player. Her defensive work is good, her ability in possession is superb and the potential is there for her to build on her attacking attributes as well.

From here, it's just about Kaptein continuing on this upward trajectory. Playing regularly for top-level sides like Chelsea and the Netherlands, she is only going to improve naturally as she gains more experience, confidence and fine tunes her all-round game.

At the moment, she's somewhere in between a squad player and a regular starter for both club and country, and making strides towards achieving the latter status will be her goal right now, as well as contributing to team success.

While some might have thought the move from Twente to Chelsea was quite a jump, that Kaptein has immediately started making her mark with the English champions says a lot about how good a player she is already. Still just 19 years old, she is only going to get better and better.