9 Chelsea academy graduates thriving away from Stamford Bridge in 2024-25

Chelsea have a litany of former players at other clubs and a handful of them are currently living their best lives since leaving Stamford Bridge.

As Enzo Maresca gradually figures out the best way to use his vast and talented squad, several of their former players are faring even better since leaving the Blues.

We’ve identified nine former Chelsea stars who are currently loving life since moving to pastures new.

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.

And he’s blossomed into Newcastle’s starting left-back campaign with a string of fine performances. Hall also won his first England cap during the Nations League win over Greece in November 2024 and looks to have a bright future with the national team.

Conor Gallagher

One of the summer’s big transfer sagas involved Gallagher’s move to, and return from, Atletico Madrid, before the transfer was finally confirmed, with Joao Felix going the other way, to join Chelsea’s ever-growing standing army of wingers and number 10s.

Having captained Chelsea for most of the previous season, the homegrown midfielder who represented England at Euro 2024 is now part of Diego Simeone’s midfield, fulfilling a similar role to that which was carried out by El Cholo himself back in the day.

Underrated by many, but adored by the Atletico fans, Gallagher is playing for the perfect team and the perfect manager to utilise his talent.

Dominic Solanke

Solanke was a highly-rated prospect during his youth days with Chelsea and he’s now fulfilling that potential in the Premier League.

After scoring 19 league goals for Bournemouth in 2023-24, the striker became Tottenham’s record signing after he moved to north London for a £65million fee.

Spurs have been wildly inconsistent this year, but Solanke still has four goals in nine Premier League appearances and is showing signs of settling into Ange Postecoglou’s system perfectly.

The 27-year-old also won his first England cap in seven years during the Nations League defeat to Greece in October 2024. Thriving.

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.

Alongside fellow Cobham graduate Ola Aina, Hudson-Odoi has thrived at the City Ground this season and scored Forest’s winner against Liverpool in September 2024.

Since arriving at Forest in 2023, the winger has scored 10 Premier League goals for the club and is an important member of their upwardly-mobile team.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

“At Chelsea I felt like a caged animal, I didn’t play as much as I wanted and when it happened I played in positions where I couldn’t express myself,” Loftus-Cheek told Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport last season.

“Here, however, I have a free mind, I play as a midfielder as I like and it’s like being a child again, when we played without worries.

“If the whole team has this feeling, great things can be achieved: even winning the championship. We feel like the best.”

Milan’s Scudetto challenge in 2023-24 eventually faded away, although 10 goals was an impressive return from the former Chelsea midfielder.

He is yet to get off the mark this season for an inconsistent Milan, but Loftus-Cheek has made 14 appearances so far and is clearly playing much more football than if he’d remained at Stamford Bridge.

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Billy Gilmour

Frank Lampard played a huge role in Gilmour’s development and the hype surrounding the Scottish youngster was rife around 2019.

But Chelsea decided to cash in on the midfielder in 2022, offloading him to Brighton for a £10million fee.

Gilmour initially struggled for game time at the AMEX, but became increasingly more influential during his two years on the South Coast and earned a shock move to Napoli in the summer of 2024.

While his compatriot Scott McTominay has stolen the headlines in Naples, the 23-year-old has made 10 Serie A appearances of his own and has cemented his place in the first team following an injury to Stanislav Lobotka.

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Omari Hutchinson

Having helped fire Ipswich into the Premier League, Chelsea were happy to sell Hutchinson to the Tractor Boys for an initial £18million plus bonuses that was immediately towards meeting their FFP regulations.

It’s been a tough reintroduction to the top flight for Ipswich, who were winless until their 11th game, but the winger has impressed with his silky control and fearless dribbling ability.

Hutchinson was instrumental in Ipswich’s first three-point haul of the campaign, a 2-1 win at Tottenham, and their chances of survival will be greatly enhanced if he continues to perform so admirably.

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 and has usurped Kieran Trippier as their first-choice right-back.

Ethan Ampadu

As Ampadu had spent the last four years of his Chelsea career out on loan, it was about time he found a new permanent home.

Leeds United managed to win the race for his signature and the 24-year-old has looked a class above the Championship since arriving at Elland Road in 2023.

An ever-present last season, the Wales international has been out injured since their 3-0 win over Coventry in September but is making a quicker-than-expected recovery and will regain the captain’s armband upon his return.