Chelsea’s new coach, Frank Lampard, can rely on a number of young faces in preseason matches, Barcelona vs Chelsea, at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday (7/23/2019). Frank Lampard must indeed be able to take advantage of these young players. Not only as a preseason trial, but also as an anticipation because Chelsea is being subject to a transfer embargo.
The Blues are being subject to a transfer ban in two transfer markets or until January 2020. The transfer embargo was dropped because Chelsea allegedly violated regulations regarding the purchase of non-British young people under the age of 18.
Actually, the London club has appealed to the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS). However, because the Premier League transfer market closes on August 8, it is impossible for a ruling to annul the transfer embargo.
Thus, Frank Lampard as the new coach can only read the news of the Premier League transfer, without taking part in it. Even so, Lampard shouldn’t worry too much about the player’s stock if he really looks into the depth of the squad. Numbers of Chelsea Academy players are out as well as some loan players returned to Stamford Bridge this summer.
The Chelsea Academy
The Chelsea Academy alumni are currently playing in a number of Premier League clubs – the Premier League top caste. There are 15 Chelsea alumni who play in other Premier League clubs with a total of 22,445 minutes playing.
The number of 15 players is the second most, only losing to 20 alumni of the Manchester United Academy. However, 8 of the 20 Man United Academy alumni played at Old Trafford, while Chelsea were mostly outside Stamford Bridge.
Last season, there were three academy “graduates” who were part of Maurizio Sarri’s main squad. They are defender Andreas Christensen and two young midfielders, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Implicitly, Lampard will indeed rely on “young blood” on his team. “I want to see the results of the hard work of the club’s directors in developing the academy,” Lampard told the BBC when he was first appointed as coach. Here are 3 young players that Lampard can rely on to increase Chelsea’s strength:
Mason Mount
The 20-year-old England midfielder has just signed a five-year contract with the Blues. “I am very proud to be able to sign an additional five-year contract at this club,” said the player who was at the Chelsea Academy since the age of 6. Mount was a Chelsea player in Derby County – the club that Lampard had trained before – in the Championship Division last season.
In 35 appearances in the second tier of the Premier League, the England Under-21 national midfielder scored 8 goals. He has also scored one goal in pre-season 2019-2020 when Chelsea won 4-0 over St. Patrick’s Thistle, last 13 July.
Tammy Abraham
Abraham actually has penetrated the Chelsea first team in the 2015-2016 season and made his debut on May 11, 2016 when he drew 1-1 against Liverpool. After that, the striker who was born on October 2, 1997 was loaned to Bristol City, Swansea City and last season at Aston Villa. Aston Villa successfully delivered a ticket to the Premier League by beating Lampard’s team in the final play-off.
With a record of 26 goals with Aston Villa last season, Tammy Abraham can be a cover for Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi after Chelsea were left behind by Alvaro Morata and Gonzalo Higuain. “Still 21 years old, Abraham will still grow to be better,” said former Chelsea midfielder, Pat Nevin.
Afikayo Tomori
As with Mount, Tomori is one of Lampard’s mainstays when he thrashed Derby last season. Tomori became Lampard’s mainstay on the back line of The Rams, as evidenced by 55 appearances in various competitions. The 21-year-old British original defender even became the first loan player in history to have the best player status.
Fikayo Tomori’s strength as a defender is the speed and ability to understand the game and process the ball. If Lampard defended him, Tomori could be a coating for Antonio Ruediger and David Luiz at the heart of the defense. So far, Tomori has made his debut with the senior Chelsea team, namely when replacing Abraham in the match versus Liverpool, 11 May 2016.
