Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Three former Chelsea academy and current Premier League players who deserved more

After the topsy turvy ride, Frank Lampard's Chelsea has finally managed to nick their second win of the Premier League and this time in a sublime fashion.

Three former Chelsea academy and current Premier League players who deserved more


Bengaluru, Sept. 17: After the topsy turvy ride, Frank Lampard's Chelsea has finally managed to nick their second win of the Premier League and this time in a sublime fashion.

Youngster Tammy Abraham was on the scoresheet thrice while other two academy stars Tomori and Mount scored each to rout Wolves 5-2 at Molineux Stadium.

Chelsea's goals so far surprisingly have come from academy stars only, 11 of them in Premier League till now has been scored by either Tammy, Mount or Tomori. The three academy stars on whom Lampard seemed to have put ultimate faith after their transfer ban.

The English manager is now forced to work upon with the academy players due to their one year transfer ban and it has turned out as a blessing for some of the young players, who definitely deserved chances.

But as a whole, the academy scenario at Stamford Bridge has not been so kind to former players over the years. Chelsea have a big pool of academy players playing on loan to various sides and many of them at one point reached a certain stage which should have been repaid with chances. But with the defending Europa League winners over the years relying more on obtained players than their homegrown talents, it has seen them losing some key players who are established in other Premier League sides and could have been a key inclusion in the current team.

Below we take a look at three such names who are still shining in Premier League but deserved a better chance before being sold.

1) Nathan Ake

One of the hottest prospects of the academy, Ake played three seasons on loan with Reading, Watford and Bournemouth to gain first-team experience in which he certainly passed with flying colours. He played a combined total of 39 matches at the clubs before he was recalled by Antonio Conte in January 2017. But returning to the side he was rarely used by the Italian. It was believed that he will be the successor of Gary Cahill in the first XI but next season, after the signing of another defender Rudiger and Cahill also staying put, the Dutch defender left the side with Chelsea casually selling him to Bournemouth for just £20 million.

2) Ryan Bertrand

The current Southampton left-back played two seasons at Chelsea and was an understudy to Ashley Cole. He even famously started in Chelsea's Champions League 2012 final at the Allianz Arena against Bayern surprising everyone with his impressive performance. After the victory and 19 Premier League appearances the following season, he was seen as the ideal successor to Ashley Cole.
But the next managers - firstly Di Matteo and Rafa Benitez never used him as the first-team option while after Mourinho's arrival he was sent back to the bench who kept faith on Cesar Azpilicueta to play left side of the defence instead and then signed Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid. He was eventually sold to Southampton that season and since then he arguably has become one of the prominent names in PL, even getting his dream England debut while playing for Southampton.

3) Patrick van Aanholt

Aanholt played in five different sides over nine years but played only two matches for Chelsea before he was permanently sold to Sunderland. An experienced player right now, the Dutch defender may not be a Chelsea standard at that moment but since leaving the side, his performance firstly in Sunderland and now at Crystal Palace is only on an upward curve.

Story first published: Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 21:32 [IST]
Other articles published on Sep 17, 2019