Manchester United and England legend Rio Ferdinand believes that Chelsea have finally realised the potential of their youth system. These comments were made after Chelsea thrashed Juventus 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Chelsea academy graduates Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi scored the first three goals for Chelsea in the 4-0 thumping of Juventus. Another Chelsea academy graduate in Ruben Loftus-Cheek set up the third goal with his brilliant footwork in close quarters inside the Juventus box. Timo Werner scored the fourth goal for Chelsea.
Football pundit Rio Ferdinand believes that the European champions have finally found a ‘winning formula’. After previously spending millions of dollars on their project. Rio also praised previous Chelsea boss Frank Lampard for kickstarting the academy project. He was also high on praise for current boss Thomas Tuchel for continuing with the project.
Rio Ferdinand said:
‘For years Chelsea have invested in youth. But didn’t have the managers who are as confident as Frank and Thomas now,’
‘The odd one might have come in but never stayed around. Reece James has been phenomenal. What this does for Cobham is the Under 8s, Under 9s and later academy kids are seeing a pathway.
‘The first three scorers tonight against Juventus, no mugs, are graduates from the Cobham conveyor belt.
‘They’ve persevered and they have worked it out. They are in a positive mindset with it, their youth system looks so clear for them. They can see a pathway to the first team.
Chelsea transfer policy
His fellow pundit Owen Hargreaves also talked about how Chelsea have raised funds by selling academy players who can not break into the first team. He mentioned the examples of Fikayo Tomori, Tino Liveramento, and Tariq Lamptey. This in turn helps them to buy big players in the transfer market like Romelu Lukaku this summer.
The likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Armando Broja, Andreas Christensen are just a few names that the Chelsea academy has produced.
Current Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has trusted the academy players. Most noticeably Trevoh Chalobah’s breakthrough into the first team this season. The academy players have also repaid Tuchel’s trust as Chelsea currently sit on top of the Premier League and top of their Champions League group. Chelse certainly have a good plan in place and looks very well set for the present and future of the club.
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