Chelsea hardly a beacon for youth success… but Carabao Cup rookies Ethan Ampadu, Jake Clarke-Salter and Dujon Sterling are ALL training with the first-team
A SHARD of light may have just appeared on the horizon for the hard working coaches and scouts who make up Chelsea’s youth network.
For years they have toiled and produced footballers according to their remit only to see countless promising players sold off to bankroll the thirst for off-the-peg superstars in the pursuit of trophies.
It is still premature to begin heralding Chelsea as the force for youth despite the appearances of Ethan Ampadu, Jake Clarke-Salter and Dujon Sterling in last night’s Carabao Cup match against Nottingham Forest.
One significant signal is that those rookies who played their various roles in the game are also training with the first team again today - the morning after their big night before.
But it is also true that first-team manager Antonio Conte waited until Chelsea were 4-0 up and the tie was effectively over before he brought the first of his true youngsters into the action.
Ampadu is 17-years-old and only joined Chelsea last season from League Two side Exeter City.
The two clubs are still wrangling over the compensation due for his transfer.
Belgium Under-21 Charly Musonda, 20, is an established professional who has already been on loan at top flight Spanish club Real Betis.
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He was groomed by the youth system in Belgium at Anderlecht then shipped to England just before his 16th birthday.
From last night’s performance full of trickery and pace and a well-taken goal he looks the real deal but is he a genuine product of Chelsea’s production line?
It’s encouraging for us all to see young players coming through from below rather than in expensive sideways deals.
But what Chelsea fans are craving is the next John Terry: a burgeoning, English prospect who can bridge the growing distance between supporters and their multi-millionaire heroes.
It’s the same at every Premier League club where the term "home-grown" has been conveniently muddied to allow big teams to bring over the best kids just before their 16th birthday to take over the latter stages of their development and claim the glory when they make it.
In that respect Clarke-Salter and Sterling are the players Chelsea supporters should be really keeping an eye on.
Clarke-Salter was an Under-20 World Cup winner with England in the summer and has been with the club since 2006 and he is still only 19-years-old - his blood is true blue.
A two times FA Youth Cup winner and Uefa Youth League champion, the defender has been on the subs bench in the Premier League and Terry even admitted he would one day replace him.
From Surrey, he is a native of the Chelsea patch and considered the best of the current crop of prospects to come through next.
He played less than 20 minutes on Wednesday night replacing Andreas Christensen but what a lift for him.
Sterling is a Londoner and has been at the club since he was eight-years-old.
Still only 17-years-old he is a wing back with FA Youth Cup medals already.
Memories of fourteen minutes in front of 40,000-odd fans at Stamford Bridge should propel him to the next level in terms of commitment and application.
The big question is whether Conte is genuinely interested in promoting youth.
So far he has played some kids in a league cup tie which pretty much every manager does.
His predecessor Jose Mourinho vowed to bring the youth through and failed spectacularly.
Football is littered with former Chelsea kids who have moved on elsewhere - Forest even had one themselves last night in Michael Mancienne.