Chelsea’s youth revolution has been in full swing this season in part due to the transfer ban, but not all of them should expect a return next season.
Months ago, before Covid-19 was more than a bogey man to many, Frank Lampard spoke candidly about the youth and their place at Chelsea. Without the transfer ban, many of those youth would have been loaned out once more. It is likely that without the transfer ban, Lampard would not have been manager either which surely would have played even more into the fortunes of the youth.
The ban did happen though and many of those youth were given chances after loans or straight from the academy that surely would have been sparse otherwise. For the most part, they have responded well to the challenge but that alone does not protect them.
With the ban lifted and Chelsea supposedly sitting on their fourth or fifth “war chest” this decade, many of these youths will struggle to find the same amount of minutes as they have this season. Not all of them will have a spot after the cash has been laid on the table and new players come in.
Here, youth will mean any of the under 23 players that came from Chelsea. That excludes the likes of Christian Pulisic, Andreas Christensen, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek despite the latter two being academy graduates. Pulisic will surely have a spot. Christensen will have to fight for one if he happens to stay. And Loftus-Cheek needs to prove his fitness, but he is likely to return regardless.
Beyond that, who will and will not return varies greatly. Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, and Mason Mount (despite him being one of the ones that would have been loaned out without the ban) are all sure to return as important first team players regardless of who is bought in the window. They have earned their places.
The next tier includes the coin toss players. Fikayo Tomori was doing fantastically in the first half of the season, but almost as soon as Antonio Rudiger returned (and an illness took Tomori out for a few weeks), the defender has been nowhere to be seen. He has played in just three matches since the New Year began and in one of those he was substituted off. If Chelsea has any inclination to strengthen their defense, it surely comes at the expense of Tomori.
The other coin toss is Billy Gilmour. Gilmour is a fantastic player clearly ready for first team football. But Chelsea’s midfield is already crowded and any new player will only increase that bottleneck. Gilmour could easily get a solid loan in the Premier League or the Championship to further develop. Until Jorginho’s suspension ends and it becomes clearer what amount of minutes Gilmour commands, he is simply an unknown.
Beyond that is every player that is all but certain to go out on loan after making a debut this season or being involved minimally. Ian Maatsen’s debut was ages ago and he has not played since. Faustino Anjorin is in a similar boat though he did get minutes in the last match against Everton. Armando Broja also featured in that match, but unless he is magically a first team player now, he is sure to see a loan. Finally is Marc Guehi who already went out on loan for the second half of the season.
The ban gave opportunities to these players that otherwise would likely not have been available. The ban is gone now which will not cost every player their spot, but it will cut into many of their playing times. Chelsea needs to strengthen in the market. The youth revolution has been fantastic to finally witness after years of talking about it, but it cannot and will not prevent Chelsea from strengthening where it is needed at the expense of some of these players’ time at Chelsea next season.