Chelsea like every other football club, do have a pool of excellent youngsters that could be nurtured and in turn become exciting players in years to come.
But in seasons past, the Blues has been much criticized for ignoring the talents that came through their own academy.
The preponderance opinion is that they didn’t realize how much money they could make from the sale of these players seeing how other club sides are making money from their respective academies.
On the other hand, if these players are well-bred, the club could rely on them should they find themselves in a dicey situation where they cannot sign players – as we saw in 2019.
As if it was bound to happen anyway when Lampard was appointed Chelsea boss, (albeit the club had been hammered with a transfer ban before his arrival) he was coming with a youth-oriented policy that would pave way for academy products into the first team, and it happened.
Players like Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, and Reece James all joined Chelsea’s first team with Lampard at the helm – Undoubtedly, there are more of them.
Let’s take a look at 5 youth players who could break out into the Chelsea team.
- Lewis Bate
Bate signed for the Blues as an under-9 following his progression from Chelsea’s development program. The English youngster is a combative central midfielder capable of delivering defense-splitting passes, and also possesses utmost set-piece accuracy.
The 18-year old lad played for Chelsea’s U-18 during the 2018/19 season and he’s also represented England at the u-17 level of the European Championship.
Due to his consistent awesome performance, he becomes a regular for Andy Myer’s squad in the Premier League 2. Though he’s yet to make his senior appearance, he has been an unused substitute for Chelsea’s main team on two occasions (against Sheffield United and Bayern Munich) towards the end of last season.
Should Bate be handed the opportunity to play for the Blues, he will most likely impress the new manager.
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- Henry Lawrence
Lawrence was also joined on the bench for the Champions League last 16 ties with Bayern Munich last season and he has often trained with the first team this season.
It’s extremely hard to pinpoint the best position of the 19-year old because due to his versatility, he has been deployed severally as a left midfielder, defensive midfielder, he’s also been used at the right-back, left-back, and center-back.
Lawrence is very athletic and as a result, he overlaps whenever he starts at full-back. Given Chelsea’s several attacking options, it’s quite difficult for Lawrence to break into the main team but his capability to play at any side from the defense to the midfield is what makes him a standout performer over his peers.
- Connor Gallagher
Currently on loan at West Bromwich Albion, the 21-year old central midfielder is a known name on the lips of some Chelsea fans who follows his development.
For the records, Gallagher has had loan stints with several club sides in the English Championship namely Charlton Athletic, Swansea, before he landed at West Bromwich Albion.
He proved his versatility in midfield, playing in a deeper role, a ‘box-to-box’ position, and of the right. He also impressed with his high work rate, passing, and ability to shoot from range.
An old-school ‘box to box’, hard-working and versatile, Gallagher has drawn comparisons to Steven Gerrard. His ability and composure are often superior to players on the pitch much older than him.
Gallagher has been tested in the Premier League and this serves as an advantage for him in order to get into the Chelsea team as soon as possible.
- Armando Broja
Longer before now, Chelsea has a track record of producing young and talented attackers, but where the problem lies is when they become ripe enough, they would depart the club in order to have ample opportunities to play.
Following the exit of Patrick Bamford and Dominic Sholanke from Chelsea in 2017, most Chelsea faithful lost hope of seeing a Chelsea academy graduate lead the line for the Blues.
But the moment Lampard installed Tammy Abraham as Chelsea’s main striker last season, the belief vanished into thin air.
And this is why Lampard should be given much kudos because one of the positives from his time as a Chelsea manager was his ability to convince youngsters to commit their futures to the club – one of them is Armando Broja.
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Broja a modern-day all-round forward who can slot in at multiple positions upfront but primarily plays as a center-forward. He is 6ft 3in tall and has the physicality to hold on to the ball. He is a technically gifted forward and is more than just an out and out striker. He’s a constant aerial threat to the opponents and is a great ballplayer.
He’s a proven goalscorer with Chelsea’s youth teams across different levels. He was handed his main team debut in a home fixture against Everton to replace Olivier Giroud in the 86th minute.
Last August, Broja joined Vitesse on loan and he’s notched seven goals in sixteen appearances for the club.
- Billy Gilmour
The 19-year-old enjoyed a stellar breakthrough campaign last season but now faces even greater competition for chances at Stamford Bridge.
Gilmour is a technical midfielder with fantastic intelligence and awareness who creates lots of goalscoring chances for his teammates. He joined Chelsea’s academy from Glasgow Rangers in the summer of 2017 and he can be said to be in ascendancy since then.
Unlike other players x-rayed in this piece, Gilmour has been given opportunities to showcase his talent on numerous occasions. He has made two appearances this season for the Blues under Frank Lampard in the Premier League, both from the bench, and is hoping to make the Euro 2020 squad with his national side.
At the moment, it’s safe to say that he’s a member of Chelsea’s main team but his time is limited However, there’s no point in doubting the qualities of the Scot, as it’s been noticed by the new manager, Thomas Tuchel. But he needs to be convinced that he has the physicality and ability to meet the demands of his system.
