The new guard of Chelsea has arrived, if not solidified yet

Talk about Chelsea’s “old guard” and a few names readily flow. Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba. Others may come up too, but the core of the group remains largely the same. They were the foundation of Chelsea for years, the players the Blues built everything around.

The old guard slowly started to leave as age caught up with them and Chelsea sought a new guard. The likes of Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Diego Costa, and more all tried to stake a claim. In the end, maybe it is more accurate to say that there was a transitionary guard. Those to hold the mantle until the next group arrived.

The new guard has arrived now. Chelsea is building around a (mostly) young core that will see the club forward like their predecessors. Some have solidified their place already whereas some are still on the fringes of staking a claim.

This all beings with the academy players. Mason Mount, Reece James, and Andreas Christensen have all taken their place in this Chelsea side for now and the foreseeable future. Others, such as Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi, may have run out of time or may not have had time yet but there is surely more to come.

All that it took was someone willing to trust them. Antonio Conte didn’t have to trust Christensen as quickly as he did. Lampard certainly didn’t have to go all in on Mount or James as rapidly as he did. But because they did so, Chelsea has truly special players to carry the club forward.

There are others that can easily establish themselves as the new guard despite not having come from Chelsea. After all, Cech, Lampard, and Drogba all were adopted as Blues through and through. So too can the likes of Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell, Christian Pulisic, and Timo Werner. The likes of Kurt Zouma, and Mateo Kovacic may yet stake a claim yet.

Then there are the older players, half part of the transition and half part of what is happening now. Would the Blues have gotten this far without Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Thiago Silva, or Edouard Mendy? Chelsea’s old guard learned from the likes of Claude Makelele, Carlo Cudicini, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gianfranco Zola, Dennis Wise, and more. Behind every new generation is the last generation teaching them and pushing them to even greater heights.

The main way to establish the new guard is longevity and success. Some players already promise the former while a few will be cases of wait and see. All that is needed next is the success. That is only a matter of time with the direction Chelsea is building.

The club has not achieved anything yet, but they are closer than they have been since the old guard. The next step is to write their names in history and leave no doubts about their place among the greats. The torch is being passed as we speak.