Chelsea does not live in a reality where they could afford to lose Mason Mount or Fikayo Tomori on loan, so the comments on them are counterproductive.
There is an alternative universe where Chelsea did not receive a transfer ban. Perhaps Maurizio Sarri stayed or perhaps Frank Lampard still came in when Sarri quit for Juventus. In that banless reality, the youth revolution continues, but it is not done in the full force that it was with a ban.
Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori are loaned out as new signings come in to fill in the gaps of the squad. Tammy Abraham probably leaves knowing someone more tested will come in and block his path off. Reece James is probably the only one that would have surely stayed. Anyone else joining him would likely face the same amount of minutes as Billy Gilmour.
But that is not reality. Chelsea was banned and the youth revolution kicked off. Not only that, it carried the Blues through much of this season. That is why Frank Lampard’s recent comments about Mount and Tomori seem so odd at best and counterproductive at worst.
Speaking to his cousin, Jamie Redknapp, Lampard revealed that Mount “probably” would have gone on loan and Tomori “definitely” would have. In a reality without a ban, that would have been more than logical, what it would have meant for other young players aside. After all, both Tomori and Mount were just in the Championship last season and the leap to the Champions League is a massive one.
But that brings in the sticky part. Yes, both played in the Championship last season. Just like Abraham and James. But all four have also very much made that leap to Champions League this season. Was it perfect and without hiccups? Of course not, but trusting youth never is an even road; that is why so many managers are afraid of it.
Mount has not been perfect, especially with fatigue setting in, but he has been the driving force out of midfield in a way simply no one else is. Tomori is arguably Chelsea’s defender of the season, despite him (oddly) not being seen much after the New Year and a virus rule him out early.
These players have proved themselves, so to readjudicate them based on something that did not happen, even causally, seems out of place. It could easily send both players, seeing their minutes drop, into a pit where they believe they have already been written off for next season despite proving themselves this season.
New signings after two untapped windows should put a fire into most of the squad. But not the youth that have proven themselves. Mount and Tomori should not be thinking of how they barely made the cut this season after all they have already done.
Lampard rarely speaks in a way that can be twisted or seems harmful towards his players, but these comments are simply counterproductive when it comes to the reality of the situation.