John Terry Says Chelsea Have 'Better' Array of Young Players Than Monaco

Former Chelsea captain John Terry believes the Blues have "better" young talent on their books than French champions Monaco. 

The Ligue 1 outfit delighted football fans last season with their style of football, a brand of play that was conjured by a clutch of youthful stars. But Terry, who signed with Aston Villa on Monday, said Chelsea have rising stars to match those at Monaco.

"We've got so many at Chelsea who are ready. Monaco have a couple and everybody's saying how good they are—believe me, we've got better players at Chelsea," said the 36-year-old, per Joe Wright of Goal. "Our boys are good enough, they just need the opportunity. Either that or they need to back themselves and go out on loan."

Terry added that a lot of youngsters at Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City "get in the comfort zone" and fail to kick on as a result.

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Even so, you sense if there was quality at Stamford Bridge akin to that at the Stade Louis II, some players would have forced their way into first-team contention. After all, Monaco were one of the best sides in Europe last season, making it to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

While their success was in part down to some older heads, most notably Radamel Falcao, much of the team have their best years ahead of them still.

As noted by the Scouted Football Twitter account, three of Monaco's jewels made it into the Ligue 1 Team of the Season:

Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva—now of Manchester City—and Benjamin Mendy weren't the only impressive youngsters, either.

Manager Leonardo Jardim also used Thomas Lemar (21), Fabinho (23) and Djibril Sidibe (24) on a regular basis. Tiemoue Bakayoko (22) was also a mainstay in the Monaco midfield, and he is close to completing a move to the Blues, according to Simon Stone of BBC Sport.

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With that in mind, it's difficult to agree with the claims made by Terry. After all, Chelsea's title-winning squad from the previous season was packed full of experienced players in the prime of their career.

Meanwhile, as noted by football journalist Paul Brown, Chelsea have already parted ways with some of their best youngsters this summer and look set to loan out other star names:

Indeed, Dominic Solanke and Nathan Ake have already moved on despite both men having been tipped for bright futures. If Tammy Abraham and Nathaniel Chalobah are indeed loaned out, supporters will be hopeful they can return and force their way into the setup.

But youngsters have found it hard to break through at Chelsea, with Terry himself one of the last to move up from the academy and secure a place in the first team.