If and when Roman Abramovich writes out a £40million cheque for the acquisition of John Stones, he might want to ask a few questions of his senior staff at Chelsea ­Football Club.

Why on earth can’t we produce 21-year-olds of this calibre?

How come I’ve given you about £100million for the academy and yet still have to fork out another fortune if we want a young player capable of turning out for the first team?

Can you explain how the youth and Under-21 lads win almost everything in sight but barely get a sniff of the first team?

He might not want to ask those ­questions, of course. He might not care. After all, spending is his forte.

Hey big spender: Abramovich has no problem with splashing the cash (
Image:
Getty)

Indeed, a lot of supporters might not care – especially those, like Abramovich, only recently affiliated to the club and, possibly, the game.

We are the champions, are we really bothered where the players come from?

You don’t have to be bothered, that’s for sure. Clubs have been winning titles with teams comprised almost entirely of purchases for many a year. Manchester City certainly have that in common with Chelsea.

But there is something intangibly heartening for a supporter to watch his club develop its own talent. The chatter starts early when a kid is tearing it up on the training ground.

Word gets round that a 14-year-old Wayne Rooney is tormenting adult defenders, that a 14-year-old Joe Cole is dazzling even the most hard-bitten coaches, that a 14-year-old Jack Wilshere is running the show against older players.

Rooney: At least Everton got to see their great hope in action (
Image:
Getty)

They might leave the club – as Rooney and Cole did – but you see them come through, make their debuts, dazzle for a while.

In some cases – we’re talking the United class of ’92 and the Gerrrards of this world – they stay. Either way, it makes you proud of your club.

At Chelsea, you hear great things about a whole host of young players, some at the club since ­childhood, some recruited in their mid-teens, some in their late teens.

And they go on loan. Probably never to return. Nathaniel Chalobah was the next big thing after captaining the team that won the 2012 FA Youth Cup. In August, 2013, as a 19-year-old, he signed a new five-year deal.

He has yet to play a match for Chelsea. He has played 38 times for Watford, 12 for Nottingham Forest, 19 for ­Middlesbrough, four for Burnley and 15 for Reading.

Loan ranger: Chalobah has been shipped out multiple times already (
Image:
Action)

Without a hint of irony, Chalobah says he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge for his entire career.

He has two hopes of playing for Chelsea: Slim and None. And to adapt an old Don King favourite, Slim is packing his bags and heading out of town.

The Chelsea generation below Chalobah is jammed with talent.

And players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Dominic Solanke, Isaiah Brown (signed from West Brom) and Lewis Baker have all had ­momentary tastes of first-team action.

Baker, incidentally, is following a spell at MK Dons with a season at that Chelsea outpost of Vitesse Arnhem.

In pictures: Chelsea win FA Youth Cup

It is a well-worn path trodden by that one-time high-profile prodigy Josh McEachran...who signed full-time last week, for Brentford. Chelsea do not even have a great record of producing players good enough for other high-level clubs.

A survey last season showed only 12 graduates of Chelsea’s youth academy were playing first-team football in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

Barcelona’s academy had produced 43, Manchester United’s 36, Arsenal’s 22.

The problem of bringing homegrown talent to fruition is something that the Football Association believes is at the root of the national team’s lack of achievement. But it is something more than that.

The boss: Mourinho is aware of the issue at Stamford Bridge (
Image:
Reuters)

There is something special – ­something unquantifiable – for the lifelong fan to see a player go from boy to man in the same club colours.

This is not Chelsea’s problem alone. Far from it. But it is something that boss Jose Mourinho claims to be aware of.

“If you don’t bring kids through the academy, the best thing is to close the academy,” Mourinho said, seven months ago.

And if and when Abramovich signs that John Stones cheque, he might just take Jose up on it.

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