A photograph of Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic went viral on social media earlier this month.The snap, taken at the Blues’ Cobham training ground in June 2010, showed Mount and Pulisic next to each other alongside another boy.The current Chelsea stars were only 11 years old at the time. Mount was already on Chelsea’s books, while Pulisic was visiting the London club.But who was the ginger lad in the photo?Nobody seemed to recognise him. Did he even make it as a professional footballer?

The answer to that question is… not exactly, although he remains determined.

Tom Carlton, now 21, had been in Chelsea’s academy for four years when the photo was taken. He was only 10 years old and dreamed of representing England one day.

While Mount and Pulisic are now Premier League stars for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea, Carlton currently plies his trade for Herne Bay FC, a Kent-based team who compete in the Isthmian League South East Division.

In an open and honest interview with Kent Online, Carlton admits he finds it difficult watching his fellow ex-starlets shining at the highest level of English football.

“It’s hard, to be honest. It’s not because of jealousy or anything like that – fair play to them for making it that far – but it could have been me and that’s why it’s so hard to watch,” he said.

When the photo was posted on Twitter, Tom received a flurry of messages.

“I woke up that morning and my phone had about 500 messages,” he continued.

“I was pretty shocked. I didn’t even remember Pulisic being at Chelsea at the time until I saw the picture.

“Apparently, he was there on a 10-day trial and he obviously didn’t get signed at the time.”

Pulisic, who joined Chelsea in a £58 million deal from Borussia Dortmund in 2019, is now widely regarded as one of the Premier League’s best attacking wingers following his impressive debut campaign with the Blues. The American recently scored in the FA Cup final against Arsenal.

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Carlton was released by Chelsea aged 14 along with his close friend Declan Rice, the West Ham and England star.

He admits the decision hit him hard. He was so upset that he couldn’t even attend school for a couple of days.

“It was hard to take,” he added. “It was heart-breaking.

“For a week after I was really upset; I didn’t go back to school for the next couple of days because my head was all over the place.

“But two or three days later my dad was receiving phone call after phone call from different clubs, like West Ham, Charlton, Millwall, Fulham, Birmingham, West Brom – a lot of clubs.”

More disappointment was to come two years later when, at the age of 16, he was released by West Ham.

“It was harder to take because I chucked my life away just for football, really,” he said. “I didn’t see friends; I didn’t see anyone.

“After that, I was thinking, ‘I’ve done all that just to be released again’.

But he decided to continue with football, adding: “I had an agent at the time and after having a chat with him, I thought I’d give it another go.”

He later signed a professional contract with Colchester but joined Herne Bay in 2017 and now competes in the eighth tier of English football.

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He trains twice a week with the non-league team but earns his money by working as a glazier.

“About last year, I wanted to quit football because I was down and depressed a lot,” Carlton added.

“My girlfriend told me I can’t quit because I can still make it - I still have a chance.

“Until I’m at an age where I don’t think I can do it, I’ll still believe that I can make it into the Football League.”

Let’s hope there’s a happy ending to this story and Tom successfully works his way into the Football League.

For every Mount or Pulisic, there are many - many - more young lads like Carlton.

Football can be a cruel business, particularly with how discarded youngsters are treated.

And stories like Tom’s show how important it is for professional clubs to do more when it comes to ensuring released youngsters are given all the support they need moving forwards.