Of all the images that stuck with Chelsea fans after they were crowned winners of the Champions League in Porto, it was the beaming smiles of Mason Mount and Reece James clutching the trophy that stood out.
Two players that were every bit made at Cobham. Talent nurtured, patience shown and both now stand as bonafide first team stars.
Academy stars making the grade is often high up a supporter’s priority list at clubs at every level but when Chelsea have so many resources, so many leading talents, supporters are itching to see them thrown in.
And under Frank Lampard – and a transfer embargo – they did get a go, multiple chances in fact. These ‘kids’ were the ‘future of this club,’ claimed Lampard. What he must make of this mass exodus.
Lewis Bate, 18, is one of a number of Chelsea Academy talents that has moved this summer
Marc Guehi has joined Crystal Palace in an £18m deal while Billy Gilmour is on loan at Norwich
Mount returned from a loan spell with Derby, under Lampard, and soon took the next step while James proved he was cut-out for the limelight as he enjoyed a stellar campaign in a right back battle with Cesar Azpilicueta.
Tammy Abraham got ample opportunities to lead the line and he repaid Lampard handsomely by finishing 2019-20 as Chelsea’s top scorer with 15 goals.
There were opportunities too for Fikayo Tomori and towards the end of the season in came young Scot Billy Gilmour.
Even Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had been used sparingly by Maurizio Sarri, was getting a more prominent role amid Bayern Munich’s interest. The future couldn’t have looked brighter.
Lampard guided his gang of plucky youngsters to fourth in the league and with it came Champions League qualification, a huge success given the star-studded line-ups of rivals.
It wasn’t a league title or a Champions League trophy but that season, and those young rising stars, brought plenty of excitement and enjoyment to supporters.
One or two marquee additions last summer was the sense among some, give the youngsters some star quality to help them kick on.
What instead transpired was a £220million attack on the transfer market that saw Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell among the heavyweight arrivals.
Tomori had already been farmed out loan to AC Milan by Lampard after Silva arrived and perhaps that was a sign of what was to come.
Thomas Tuchel (left) is in win-now mode and there is only so far sentiment with the Academy will go as he has shown less willingness to blood youngsters than Frank Lampard (right) did
Mount survived the overhaul, as did James, but it was those looking up, the likes of Gilmour and defender Marc Guehi, that were having to ask themselves: can I ever break through?
And so when Lampard was axed back in January in favour of Thomas Tuchel, there was an air of trepidation as to what that meant for the next crop of kids. He arrived in a win-now mode and was also tasked with getting the likes of Werner and Havertz singing.
Sentiment can only go so far and the exile of Abraham, which has seen him linked to a move across London to join Arsenal this summer, shows Tuchel’s ruthlessness when it comes to the Cobham Kids.
It seems the concern for a pathway to the first team is sinking in with Chelsea’s rising stars and rather than dipping in and out with loans, many are now heading elsewhere, and heading out the door en masse this summer.
Lewis Bate, 18, had one year left on his Chelsea deal but opted against signing a new one due to concerns about his potential pathway.
Lampard made Reece James (middle) a key part of his plan as he navigated a transfer embargo
James and Mason Mount (right), also promoted under Lampard, have gone on to thrive
Having been at the club since the age of eight it’s a decision he will never have wanted to make, walking out on the one club he has known in the last decade.
But off he went to Leeds on a three-year deal in a £1.5m deal. His pathway, he believes, is less cluttered than it is in west London.
Bate has appeared for England at both Under-17 and Under-18 level and while he is originally linking up with Leeds’ U23 side he will believe he can catch boss Marcelo Bielsa’s eye before the 2021-22 season is out.
Marc Guehi, a really highly rated defender, has also cut his losses, joining Crystal Palace for £18m.
The 21-year-old impressed across 18 months of two loans at Swansea and has now made the Selhurst Park move.
Guehi has two first team appearances with Chelsea – both in the Carabao Cup – and at 21 he knows he needs clarity on his future, something he now has in south-east London.
‘I’m very excited, it’s a great opportunity for me to come to such a big club in the Premier League,’ Guehi said.
‘I’m really excited to get going. The club is taking a really exciting direction with the new gaffer that’s come in. A lot of good young players are here and obviously such a stable club with top players really enticed me and made me want to come.’
Opportunity. That’s all a lot of these youngsters want but it’s more complex because Chelsea’s squad is huge, multiple established internationals in every single position.
Want a spot in midfield? Get past Jorginho, N’Golo Kante or Mateo Kovacic. Want a spot in defence? Get past Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger or even Azpilicueta.
More are expected to follow Bate and Guehi out the door, too.
Academy Player of the Season Tino Livramento is expected to seal a move to Brighton where he will compete with, ironically, former Chelsea youngster Tariq Lamptey for the right back spot.
Bate had won plaudits in the Academy but was aware the pathway to the first team is tough
Dynel Simeu, who has captained England at Under-18 level, is expected to join Southampton while 18-year-old midfielder Myles Peart-Harris joined newly-promoted Brentford on loan on Friday.
There are others to factor in with the likes of Conor Gallagher and Ethan Ampadu keen to step up at Chelsea after loans at West Brom and Sheffield United respectively.
Dujon Sterling is due a new deal and Gilmour has chosen to spend a season out on loan at Norwich.
Depending on who you ask, the money raised from selling some of the Cobham Kids is good business helping to fund mega moves for the likes of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.
To others, it is a less-than-impressive step away from the philosophy Lampard seemed so keen to embrace.
Chelsea are trying to offload fringe players as they aim to secure the signing of Erling Haaland
