A ridiculously good XI of academy graduates that Chelsea have sold since 2021
Few clubs, if any, major clubs in world football have undergone as dramatic a rebuild as Chelsea in recent seasons. Their recent trend of cashing in on the ‘pure profit’ of their top academy graduates is a trend that’s continuing with the sale of Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid.
It was only three years ago that Chelsea won the Champions League, having leant on several homegrown Cobham stars to claim European club football’s most prestigious trophy. Now they’ve failed to qualify for the competition in back-to-back seasons under the ownership of Todd Boehly, raising questions over the wisdom of their current strategy.
With credit to Scouted Football, you can put together an entire XI of Chelsea academy graduates sold since 2021 alone. How would this side fair against the current Blues team, do you reckon?
GK: Jamie Cumming
Alright, we’re not getting off to the most glamorous start here, but bear with us.
Chelsea have made an eyebrow-raising habit of stockpiling goalkeepers of late, without making it immediately obvious who’ll be their No.1.
But they have recently offloaded Cumming, selling him to Oxford United after he helped them get promoted from League One on loan in the latter half of last season. The 24-year-old is one to keep an eye out for in the Championship this season.
RB: Tino Livramento
“You look back and I didn’t have many changes through the academy, I stayed at Chelsea and signed every contract that they gave me,” Livramento told Hampshire Live in 2022 of his decision to leave his boyhood Blues for Southampton.
“Taking that step to decide to leave was massive, but it was well thought out, I took a lot of time and a lot of reasoning. At the end of the day, I just wanted to play first-team football consistently.”
The full-back had been named Chelsea’s Academy Player of the Year in 2021 but never made a senior appearance for the club.
After suffering a serious ACL injury during his time at St. Mary’s, Livramento looks back on the right track at Newcastle. Kieran Trippier’s long-term successor on Tyneside.
CB: Marc Guehi
Crystal Palace reportedly rebuffed Newcastle’s offer of over £60million for the centre-back, who they signed for just £18million three years ago.
That, and the fact that he barely put a foot wrong for England as they reached the Euro 2024 final, tells you everything about his trajectory since leaving Chelsea. He looks bound for the top.
Recent reports suggest that Newcastle will return with an increased offer for Guehi. Watch this space.
CB: Fikayo Tomori
While Gareth Southgate was a massive fan of Guehi, he tended to overlook Tomori – despite the defender winning a Scudetto and performing to a high level with AC Milan after leaving Chelsea in 2021.
It will be interesting to see the approach that Southgate’s successor takes with the Rossoneri man. He has the potential to be a key player for the Three Lions.
LB: Lewis Hall
Hall might’ve been born and raised in Berkshire, joining Chelsea’s academy at the age of eight, but he was raised as a Newcastle fan by a father who hailed from the North East.
After breaking through to make a handful of appearances for the Blues, Hall joined Newcastle last summer – originally on loan, but with a view to a permanent deal.
The cherubic 19-year-old never made it beyond the periphery with Eddie Howe’s Magpies last term but a permanent switch was nevertheless completed for a £28million fee.
He still has time on his side to come good at St. James’ Park. Time will tell whether Chelsea look on enviously at Newcastle’s pair of young full-backs as the two clubs do battle for European qualification.
READ NEXT: The 10 most expensive transfer windows in history: Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Chelsea player to score 20+ Premier League goals?
CM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek
“I always contemplated moving. This past season, coming towards the end, it felt like the right time to move on. I was starting to feel really good in my body and my injuries had cleared up,” Loftus-Cheek told The Times of his decision to leave Chelsea for AC Milan last summer.
“After the past two seasons feeling really good and not playing in the position you want to play, I was feeling like a caged animal. I just want to be free now to play, and I feel like it was the right time to move on. Change is always difficult but sometimes it might be the best thing.”
After stuttering a little amid loans and so-so loans away, Loftus-Cheek kicked on and enjoyed a fine debut campaign at the San Siro.
He’s nailed down his place in the Rossoneri’s midfield and ought not to be forgotten when it comes to a potential England recall.
CM: Conor Gallagher
The latest to leave. Gallagher reportedly turned down Chelsea’s contract extension offer and was made to train separately.
We’ll have to wait and see how this one pans out, but the player who made more fouls than any other player in the Premier League last season playing under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid sounds like a match made in heaven to us.
READ: The last 10 England internationals that moved overseas & how they fared
FWR: Callum Hudson-Odoi
It feels like a long time ago that Hudson-Odoi was anointed Chelsea’s next major star. He made his England debut before he made a Premier League start, while the Blues are said to have rejected a mammoth £70million bid from Bayern Munich back in 2020.
The winger’s career hasn’t quite panned out as expected. He never quite nailed down a regular starting spot at Chelsea and hasn’t played for England since 2019. A half-season loan at Bayer Leverkusen a couple of years back failed to kickstart things.
While he might not be a world-beater, he undoubtedly possesses talent. And he’s had a chance to demonstrate that – finally, consistently – in a settled environment, having moved to Nottingham Forest.
He scored a respectable tally of eight Premier League goals in his debut season with Forest. That £3million fee looks like a bargain already.
CAM: Mason Mount
After excelling on loan under Frank Lampard at Derby County in 2018-19, Mount returned to his parent club and kicked on to become a vital first-teamer under his old mentor – ultimately peaking by assisting Kai Havertz’s match-winner in the 2021 Champions League final.
Since then he went on to suffer a ‘Wembley curse’, losing six finals in three years with club and country, but he lifted it against all odds after an injury-hit campaign with a dismal Manchester United ended with a shock victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
The 25-year-old’s debut season at Old Trafford was one to forget, but at least it ended with silverware. He’ll be aiming to put that behind him and recapture his best form.
FWL: Ian Maatsen
Strictly speaking, the vast majority of Maatsen’s career appearances to date have come as a left-back. So he’s arguably a little out of position here, but he has been known to be deployed further forward in his fledgeling career.
The 22-year-old Dutchman may not possess bags of experience, and he barely played at Chelsea. But he’s already got a Championship winners’ medal and a start in a Champions League final under his belt, from his loans at Burnley and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
We’re very interested to see how he’ll fare at Unai Emery’s Champions League Aston Villa in 2024-25. He could prove a very astute addition.
ST: Tammy Abraham
The forward has had his moments at Roma since leaving Chelsea in 2021, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to match the career-best 27 goals he scored in his debut season in the Italian capital.
Year two was a notable step back under Jose Mourinho, while he spent most of last term out sidelined with an ACL tear.
We await to see how he’ll bounce back under Giallorossi legend Daniele De Rossi, while reports from the Italian media have tipped him to reunite with Loftus-Cheek and Tomori at AC Milan.
