Chelsea chief executive, Ron Gourlay, believes the club already have an ideal replacement for veteran, John Terry, and praises the youth set-up in West London.
The Blues have been heavily criticised in the past for not giving youth players a chance in the first-team, with Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois a prime example, but with the latter now the club’s number-one, Gourlay believes more youths will start breaking into the first-team at Stamford Bridge.
Despite spending millions in the transfer window, Chelsea’s average age is slowly dipping and getting younger, and the chief exec believes that trend will certainly continue.
When talking about the club’s academy, Gourlay admitted that he has in mind who will be the new Terry at the club, but he refused to name any names in order to avoid putting pressure on the youngster.
He told the Evening Standard: “We’ve also got a core of superb young English boys coming through. I think I know who, in time, could be the next John Terry but I will not name him.
“We have a great academy process. But the academy started nine years ago and you don’t start delivering players immediately.
“We’re now seeing three academy players in the first-team squad [Nathan Ake, Andreas Christensen and Lewis Baker] which is fantastic. Now let’s see them break into the first team and play regularly.
“Jose has said if Izzy Brown, Dominic Solanke and Lewis Baker are not in the Chelsea first team in a couple of years, he will have failed. He takes great pride in the academy.
“Early investment in playing staff paid dividends in creating a team admired around the world but to keep Chelsea among the elite we have always known we must produce our own world-class talent.
“We are beginning to see the benefits of our academy. Our aim is to continue creating sustainable and enduring success on and off the pitch through this dedicated academy programme, while striking a balance with continued investment in world class players and personnel. This, in turn, will also help us meet our long-term objectives for Financial Fair Play.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
