South African youngster given advice amid reported Chelsea interest - 'Learn from the best, ask them questions'

Former Chelsea youth academy product Dean Furman has advised Amajimbos star Emile Witbooi amid reported interest from the English Premier League side.

Witbooi, a Cape Town City starlet, was at one point on trial with the Blues, and Furman believes the London club can offer one of the best stages to learn.

Looking back at his time with Chelsea, Furman pointed out what Witbooi can pick and implement.

“I always wanted to improve, always wanted to work on my game, and always tried to be the best I could be, so that would be my advice to him (Emile)," Furman told Soccer Laduma.

“Learn from the best; ask them questions. One of the things I wish I did a bit more was ask more. I should’ve asked more questions like, ‘How’d you do this?’ ‘What did you do in this situation?’ and ‘How do I get better with this?’" he added.

"Those are maybe the things I didn’t do, which I wish I did, so I think you’re in an elite environment. I think there are such fantastic learning opportunities to make yourself a better player.”

Furman recalled lessons he learned and later applied by only observing how Chelsea greats Frank Lampard and John Terry did things.

“I think the biggest thing that I learned from my time at Chelsea was to learn from the best,” he revealed.

“I think Chelsea is the perfect place to learn, and when I was a young boy, the two people I looked up to were Frank Lampard and John Terry. Just to see how they train, how they conduct themselves, how they’re in the gym, and how they’re doing their extras after training to try and improve," Furman explained.

“That’s something that’s stuck with me throughout my whole career, the fact that they were two of the best players in the world throughout their careers, but they were always working on their games to get better."

For now, Fifa rules do not allow Witbooi to make an official move to Chelsea. This will only happen when the Mzansi midfielder turns 18.

The 16-year-old showed some promising performances when he featured in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations with Amajimbos this year.

Amajimbos reached the quarter-final, where they were eliminated by Morocco, the eventual champions of the tournament.

Should he continue with that promising trajectory, plenty of suitors are expected to come his way with incredible offers in the near future.