Chelsea signed teenagers Cole, Rio and Jay Dasilva from Luton Town for a combined £1m fee in 2012… but what happened to the three brothers who were the most talked about young talents in the country?

Bobby and Jack Charlton, Gary and Phil Neville, Rio and Anton Ferdinand, Yaya and Kolo Toure – the stories of footballing siblings are always fascinating to follow.

Although for every success story there are a thousand other brothers and sisters who don’t quite make it to the top.

But when Chelsea spent £1m on signing three siblings in 2012, the football world sat up and took notice.

Twins Rio and Cole Dasilva, 12, and their 13-year-old brother Jay, joined the Blues academy after five years in the Luton ranks and quickly became the country’s most talked about young talents.

Speaking during his speech, Luton youth principal Gregg Broughton praised the “unique” trio and emphasized that they stood out in their age groups when he said: “This is an historic deal to see three brothers transferred together.”

The brothers were very highly regarded and spent several years in Chelsea’s academy after leaving the then National League Luton (photo – Jay after winning the FA Youth Cup)

Jay was an attacking midfielder at the time and drew comparisons to David Silva. Cole was comfortable in both defense and midfield, while Rio played as a striker.

They arrived at Stamford Bridge to rave reviews, with the brothers once taking a Luton youth to tournament glory at a prestigious event that featured teams such as Man United, Bayern Munich and an Ivory Coast XI.

For context, this was 2012 and Luton’s first team was managed by Paul Buckle. They had just failed to get out of the National League for the third consecutive season.

But what happened twelve years later to the wonderfully talented Dasilva brothers?

Rio was unfortunately the first to leave Chelsea, leaving the club shortly after the end of his Under 15 season.

Alongside his twin brother Cole, they played in the same youth team as Declan Rice, Mason Mount and Eddie Nketiah.

Reflecting on his time at Chelsea in 2021, Rio said football.london: ‘There was a big difference. Chelsea’s training ground was great. The whole facility was incredible, there was a huge jump to where we were.

‘The players themselves… that level was a big, big jump. It took me some time to get used to it, maybe one or two months, but then you start to feel comfortable and you can show what you can do.

‘It’s obviously something a lot of boys go through, but mentally it had an effect on me: I stopped playing for a while after Chelsea. But at the end of the day, it’s about picking yourself back up and moving forward.”

Rio picked himself up admirably and returned to playing near the Dasilva family’s Luton base.

No longer a striker, Rio became a right midfielder, playing for the likes of Dunstable, Hitchin and Bedford Town before joining Kempston Rovers at the start of this season.

Kempston currently sit bottom of the Southern League Division One Central, the fourth step of the Non-League pyramid and four levels below the EFL.

Meanwhile, despite the departure of his twin brother, Cole continued to progress at Chelsea and signed a professional contract in 2016.

Cole – who developed into a full-back – enjoyed a successful youth career, including winning the Under 18 Premier League, FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League.

Despite the release of his twin brother after Under 15 level, Cole continued to progress at Chelsea

With the Blues he won the Under 18 Premier League, the FA Youth Cup and the UEFA Youth League

Cole now plays in the local Non-League scene, like brother Rio, playing for Bedford Town

However, like many others, he couldn’t quite make the jump to Chelsea’s first team and joined Brentford B when released from the Blues in 2018.

Although he impressed and was included in the Bees’ first-team squad for their 2019 pre-season camp, Cole failed to break into Thomas Frank’s side and left for a short spell with Croatian team HNK Sibenik in 2021 .

Periods at National League South clubs Oxford City and Hemel Hempstead followed, before Cole, like Rio, settled closer to home.

The defender – who also works as a coach – enjoyed successful seasons at both Royston Town and Biggleswade Town before moving to Bedford Town earlier this week.

The 24-year-old has an international background and has represented Wales 14 times at youth level, while also making one appearance for England Under 16s.

Bedford currently top the Southern League Division One Central – the same division Rio plays in with Kempston – and Cole’s move to the club comes after he left Biggleswade, who are in second place and just four points behind his new team.

Unfortunately, for fans of sibling rivalry, Bedford and Kempston have already played each other twice this season.

This brings us to the eldest sibling Jay, who has been the most successful of the trio.

After an impressive youth career at Chelsea, the left back won three FA Youth Cups and two UEFA Youth League titles in four years as a professional.

Dasilva’s pedigree as a youngster was furthered by 63 caps for England from Under-16 to Under-21 level.

While at Stamford Bridge he enjoyed productive loan spells at Charlton and Bristol City before permanently joining the Robins.

During five seasons at Ashton Gate, Dasilva quickly became one of the best left-backs in the Championship, making 144 appearances for the club.

He opted to leave last summer, signing a four-year contract with defeated play-off finalists Coventry.

Mark Robins’ side are once again in the thick of play-off battle, with Dasilva in eighth place in 29 of their 36 league games, three points behind sixth-placed Hull.

Jay has had the most successful career, making 63 appearances for England at youth level

After leaving Chelsea, he made 144 appearances for Bristol City over a five-year period

Jay moved to Coventry City last summer and is one of the Championship’s best left-backs

In that same 2021 interview, Rio said, “As we got older, Jay took it a step further. Cole and I looked at him and thought, “Oh, he’s a level above us now, so we’re going to have to match that.”

‘It spurred me on, I wanted to be just like my older brother. I looked up to him so much, he was inspiring and always set a good mark for us to try and get better.”

Meanwhile, Broughton, the Luton academy head who helped start the Dasilva brothers’ journey, is now director of football at Blackburn Rovers after spells at Luton, Norwich and Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.