Chelsea Football Club’s U18’s have won the FA Youth Cup the past three years in a row and have won the trophy five times out of the last seven years.

The club’s U19’s have also won the UEFA Youth League, youth football’s equivalent to the Champions League, the past two years beating Shakhtar and PSG in the two finals.

Yet, despite this dominance of youth football,  the last player to have come through the Chelsea ranks and establish himself as a regular first-team player is John Terry. The 35-year-old Chelsea captain made his debut for the Blues nearly 18 years ago, on October 28, 1998.

There have been players who have had glimpses, giving the fans a slight taste of what the academy has to offer. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the academy player to have featured most in the first team action. The tall central midfielder made 13 appearances for Chelsea in the Premier League last season, scoring once. However, with Nemanja Matic and now N’Golo Kante in front of him, it does not look like the academy graduate is anywhere near becoming a household name.

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Then there is the 38 players Chelsea have out on loan. Four of the most promising out of the loanees are Nathaniel Chalobah, Lewis Baker, Kasey Palmer and Tammy Abraham.

Chalobah has been at the club since he joined from Fulham at the age of 10. Now 21, the player who can play in midfield or defence is still yet to earn a competitive debut for Chelsea. He has been loaned out to six clubs since 2012 including Watford, Nottingham Forrest, Middlesborough, Burnley, Reading and now Napoli.  He has also played for England U16, U17, U19, U20 and he is now with Gareth Southgate’s England U21’s, where he scored in their 6-1 thrashing of Norway earlier in the month.

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Another player who scored in that match was Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford. From his arrival on the Premier League scene last season, to his England senior debut, last-ditch winner for Manchester United against Hull and his England U21’s hattrick, he is proof that trusting in youth can breed great young talent.

The other two goalscorers in England’s U21 win were Loftus-Cheek and Lewis Baker. Baker is 21 and has been at Chelsea since he was nine. The central midfield player has made no appearances for the Chelsea first team. In his time out on loan, he has played for Sheffield Wednesday, Milton Keynes Dons and most recently Vitesse in Holland. He scored six goals in 36 appearances for the Dutch side last season.

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Two younger Chelsea stars making a name for themselves elsewhere in the world of football are Kassey Palmer and Tammy Abraham. Palmer joined the Blues at the age of eight, he is now 19 and is yet to have pulled on the shirt for the first. The striker is out on loan at Huddersfield Town where he has scored once in 5 appearances.

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Abraham has played for the first time under temporary boss Guus Hiddink. The 18-year-old striker played twice for the Blues last season, once against Liverpool and once against Leicester, but again Chelsea loaned out another young talent. Abraham is now at Bristol City where he has scored five goals in six matches.

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It is clear to see that the Chelsea academy based in Cobham has some young stars, that with the right coaching could shape the Chelseateam of the future. The question is, when will those in charge at the club give the youth project a chance to blossom?