Chelsea: New stars’ success doesn’t come at the expense of youth

With an all new star-studded cast coming to Chelsea, a lot of the concern is the young players will be pushed out, but that isn’t true.

The lobbing of insults and criticism towards Chelsea is one of the footballing community’s greatest pastimes (circa 2003). Whether it’s finances, tactics or pure jealousy driving opposing fans’ remonstrations, the Blues have been trailblazers as club football’s greatest villain. Playing the role of pariah can be tiring at times, but there’s no question that this century has been an exhilarating and rewarding time to support the club.

It was eerie, then, when the deluge of hatred and contempt suddenly dried up last summer. In many ways, it felt like a hard reset for the club on every level, from Petr Cech joining the front office to the promotion of players like Billy Gilmour to the first team. All of those narratives have been beaten to death throughout every media format in existence, but the overall outcome was that Chelsea became admirable in the eyes of the footballing world. The appointment of Frank Lampard and the influx of academy graduates generated more positive PR than the club had seen since Roman Abramovich took over. Expectations were lowered, pressure was softened and a much-needed revolution was underway.

The ultimate result of the season was a top four finish and a cup final—the result of which I can’t seem to remember—largely powered by homegrown talent and optimistic management. Prior to the season, most fans would have been more than happy with that outcome. Of course, on a match-to-match basis there were the types of frustrations and speed bumps that every team—bar Liverpool—has to face. Questions were asked of the players and manager with each dip in form. Add in the uncomfortable pandemic-induced 100-day hiatus, and it became hard to see the forest for the trees. Looking back, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Chelsea pieced together an impressive and overachieving season.

The vibe of the club remained shockingly wholesome as academy graduates like Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham asserted themselves as bona fide Premier League players throughout the season. Gilmour’s quick ascendency from prospect to teenage deity heading into the COVID-19 break kept the warm, fuzzy feelings around throughout the three-plus months without football. Christian Pulisic’s emphatic impact after the restart extended the high all the way through to the final day of the league campaign. The FA Cup final—of which I have no recollection but can only assume went great—put a bit of a damper on the mood headed into the (late) summer, but there were plenty of reasons for optimism going forward.

Then the transfer window began.

Chelsea had already secured two shrewd deals in Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner before the season finished, but those two flashy signings were only an appetizer for what was to come. In truth, we’re only just now seeing our metaphorical waiter arrive with a densely-packed entrée in tow. The acquisitions of Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva, Xavier Mbuyamba and Malang Sarr are hovering at various stages of completion, all of their proverbial plates still not set in front of us just yet.

That’s to say nothing of the dessert, which will likely take the form of an as-yet-unnamed goalkeeper and possibly Declan Rice. The pastries are still just unformed balls of dough, their ultimate fate and identity still undecided. Even better, if Chelsea was to end up with Rice and Andre Onana, that dessert could be an Onana Split and Rice Pudding. Metaphors and puns? It’s incredible we give this content away for free.

If you’ll allow me to draw out this tortured metaphor just a bit further, it’s worth remembering the meals that preceded this decadent dinner; the more modest breakfast and lunch, if you will. That’s the academy influx—the building blocks of this new Chelsea era—and the healthy foundation on top of which these new signings will be added. Without this lean and nutritious base, the dinner would simply be empty calories that would take up residence in our thighs and midsection. Ok, that’s more than enough food analogies for a lifetime.

These new players could very well alter the short, medium and long-term trajectories of the club, both on the field and in the accounting ledgers. What the board shouldn’t do, however, is reseal the door barring academy players from making it to the first team, nor should it kick out those who finally made the leap last season. The club’s collective role is to supplement the current squad rather than replace large chunks of it. Last season’s group achieved more than what many pundits considered to be possible, and the cohesion they’ve developed with Lampard will be crucial in building upon the positives of last season.

The mindset that new transfers replace old players is something that has become ingrained in Chelsea’s ethos in the 21st century. The constant turnover in managers means that the squad needs to be constantly upended to fit the grand scheme of each new boss. While the philosophy was a generally successful one in terms of collecting silverware, it would be unsustainable in the long run.

That’s why the hard reset of the entire club was so welcome. The ability to take a season to assess and adjust the overall strategies and philosophies of the organization at every level was invaluable; Chelsea already looks better for it. The 2019/20 season may have looked like Chelsea was headed towards resembling a club like Ajax, but this summer has proven that Abramovich still intends to maintain the club’s status as one of the major players in the transfer market. Stamford Bridge is a destination for top-level talent.

This particular transfer window is unique in a hundred different ways. Chelsea’s lavish spending will almost certainly apply exclusively to these few months, but it’s a calculated part of a bigger strategy that Chelsea has never bothered piecing together until now. The financial domino effect created by COVID-19 has been devastating on so many individuals and businesses, but there’s no denying that it has provided Chelsea with a ridiculously fortuitous opportunity. One which the club is taking on with aplomb. There’s no shame in enjoying it, so long as we keep in mind football’s ultimate importance in society.

All of this is to say that this summer, although it might look like a regression to the quasi-Galacticos policy of the last decade, is just another step along the path laid out by Marina Granovskaia and the rest of the front office at the club.

The academy players will continue to contribute to the first team, while new signings will solve the problems Cobham’s system can’t fix right away. To claim that this is the death of a short-lived reliance on the academy is half-baked at best. You can bet that Abraham, Mount, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi will get substantial minutes in meaningful matches going forward. They can be regular starters alongside the glitzier names joining the squad this summer. Gilmour should get a good look in as well, once he’s fit again. And that’s to say nothing of the next wave of players coming through the youth ranks; the Ian Maatsens and Faustino Anjorins of the world. In a season with a tightened schedule and the prospect of 50-plus matches, Lampard will need to draw from a deep well of options.

It’s a very good time to be a Chelsea fan, and while the general football world will gleefully revert to their hostile attitude towards the club, the wholesome and holistic era of the club is still in full swing. As the results and performances inevitably ebb and flow, it’s worth remembering that Chelsea is focused on more than just the present. That’s new, and it’s more than welcome.