Chelsea want aways want to stay for Frank Lampard

Several players had a foot and a half out the exit door in recent months. But Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager makes the want aways want to stay.

A few days ago, Tammy Abraham said playing for a Frank Lampard Chelsea would give him belief in himself. Nothing is official on the Lampard front yet but that notion seems to be spreading down into the academy as well.

A few months ago, Juan Castillo mentioned he would be leaving Chelsea due to a lack of opportunities. That is hardly a new story. Callum Hudson-Odoi submitted a transfer request in January with the same belief. The fact that he has still not extended his contract implies he still has it on his mind. Other academy players are surely thinking the same.

But Lampard as the manger changes their calculus. Castillo is now set to stay as the first of many who will change their mind under new management. Lampard’s appointment is breathing fresh belief into a group of young stars that had little reason to trust the pipeline before.

It helps that Lampard played Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount into the ground last season. It helps even more that Jody Morris is joining Lampard. Morris coached every academy player at some point or another and there would be few in the world that knows better what they are capable of. Joe Edwards moving into the first team setup would further aid this.

This new sense of belief has been much needed at Chelsea. Despite being one of the most successful academies in the world, no one was coming into the first team. It seems this last season that finally started to come to a head with the young players leaving or trying to leave over lack of opportunities.

Coaches that play youth have historically always done so when they had other options. Lampard had other options at Derby initially but relied heavily on the younger players who had earned their chances. Chelsea has been very poor at hiring managers with a history of playing youth by choice and Lampard would be a change to that formula.

Few players have broken into the first team since John Terry. Almost all of them required some sort of outside influence to do so. Andreas Christensen needed two years in the Bundesliga. Ruben Loftus-Cheek needed a year at Crystal Palace and a World Cup call up. Hudson-Odoi needed an English debut before he got a Premier League debut. There has always been some barrier to entry.

Lampard will help to tear down those barriers. Players that earn their chances will get them regardless of age. Lampard, with the help of Morris and Edwards, will know what these players can bring to the table. They may prove to be the missing link in the pipeline that Chelsea has desperately needed for years now.

The only remaining question is who else holds on to the belief Lampard is bringing. George McEachran remains in talks and Daishawn Redan is one of Chelsea’s most promising young strikers with a future in limbo. If they follow Castillo and Lampard shows that their belief was well placed, Chelsea can finally turn their incredible academy into an incredible first team.