3 Chelsea Youngsters Who Deserve to See 1st-Team Action in 2016/17 Season
How do you solve a problem like Chelsea's youth system? Well, a good place to start is by playing some of the talented youngsters that are coming through to see if they are good enough.
That's what Chelsea fans are hoping Antonio Conte will do when he eventually takes over at the club after Euro 2016.
Not since John Terry has a Chelsea youngster become established at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea captain made his debut in October 1998, and here we are, almost 20 years on, waiting for another player from the academy to emulate his success.
Plenty have tried and failed on many occasions in that time, but with Chelsea's success in youth football these past few seasons—they have won three successive FA Youth Cups and are back-to-back European champions—the feeling is that the Blues are on the cusp of realising something special.
So of all those coming through, who deserves their chance more than most? Bleacher Report takes a look at three emerging talents who not only fit the bill as youngsters, but could offer solutions to the holes that are in Conte's Chelsea squad.
Lewis Baker
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Turning 21 years old in April, Lewis Baker has a big year ahead of him. His age now dictates he is on the margins of whether or not he can still claim youngster status at Chelsea.
Baker is on the young side of the spectrum, but good news for Chelsea is that he is showing signs of playing like a more senior player.
His 2016 Toulon Tournament form with England has ensured Baker has planted himself right at the heart of the conversation when it comes to who Antonio Conte may look to promote from the junior ranks to the Chelsea first team next season.
Baker hasn't just performed well for his club side, he's doing it on the international stage now. Regardless of what level that is in international football, it's a major positive for Baker.
Scoring four goals en route to England winning in Toulon, Baker has demonstrated that he is beyond junior football now. He spent a season on loan with Vitesse Arnhem, and we saw the benefits of that year in the Netherlands with what he produced for Gareth Southgate's young lions.
Baker has done everything the club has asked of him. He's gone away and improved; he's picked up experience and looks a better player for it.
Not only that, Baker is the sort of player Chelsea don't have at present. He can operate in the No. 10 role but is also a box-to-box threat in the same way Frank Lampard proved for Chelsea. Baker has a long way to go before those comparisons with Lampard can be taken further, but the point is that he looks to be on the path.
Now he deserves a chance to show it in Conte's team.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
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Yes, we know what you are thinking, Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been a part of the Chelsea first-team squad for two seasons now. Yes, he played some matches last season, but for what we saw of him, we still didn't see enough.
It wasn't until March when Guus Hiddink started to give Loftus-Cheek more game time. Until then he had been used rarely, mainly appearing in some cup games where he made a big impression.
What we didn't see was Loftus-Cheek being utilised in his proper position. As he told Bleacher Report in an interview in May, he has never played as a No. 10, which is where Jose Mourinho and Hiddink deployed him.
"Ever since I’ve been in the academy, I’ve never played as a No. 10," Loftus-Cheek said. "I’ve always been just in front of the back four in the two, but when I came over to the first team, Jose played me as a 10. He said he liked me in the 10 and that’s sort of stuck. Whatever happens in the future, I don’t know, but I’m just happy to play anywhere at the moment."
"I’ve always been a midfielder. I did play as a centre-back for a few games. I played centre-back for a lot of seasons actually. I moved from centre-back to midfield, always chopping and changing. [Chelsea under-21 team manager Aidy Viveash] did that the most with me, just to get a different perspective on the field. It’s been good for my development."
So now Conte must utilise Loftus-Cheek in that area of the pitch. He's not dynamic or creative enough to be a No. 10, lacking the sort of wizardry associated with the best players in that role.
Loftus-Cheek's game is about his power, running beyond opponents to break free and carve out openings. Playing so far forward as a No. 10 doesn't afford him that option.
Chelsea have a player of vast potential on their hands, and until they tap into that, the fear is Loftus-Cheek will be wasted.
Jay Dasilva
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He's yet to feature for the Chelsea first team in a senior game, but it's about time we saw Jay Dasilva begin to be given his chance on the left side of defence.
The 18-year-old won his third successive FA Youth Cup last season, joining Jake Clarke-Salter as the only player since the 1950s to achieve such an accomplishment. It was a fitting way to end his time in the competition, as next season he will be too old to compete at that level.
As Dasilva has shown, he would be too talented to compete in the FA Youth Cup, too.
Next term under Antonio Conte, we shouldn't be expecting for an 18-year-old rookie left-back to be commanding a starting place every week. What we can hope for, though, is that as Dasilva matures, he begins to feature more and more.
Since Ashley Cole's decline, Chelsea have struggled with left-backs. Filipe Luis failed and Baba Rahman isn't giving enough confidence that he is a long-term solution. That has meant Cesar Azpilicueta being deployed there, and he's a right-back.
It's about time Chelsea nurtured their own player and put faith in the coaching he has received in his time as a Chelsea youngster. Alongside his team-mates, Dasilva has dominated youth football in England and Europe, so the natural progression now should be for him to be integrated into the first team.
That integration should be gradual with players given time to adapt and find their feet, which is why Dasilva is suitably placed.
Conte is starting from scratch with this Chelsea team. He's not inheriting a team of champions where all is rosy and the team picks itself. The Italian is being tasked with building Chelsea's future, and Dasilva should be a part of that.
He isn't a solution at left-back now, but if Chelsea manage his progress properly, he has everything to suggest he will be in the near future.
