Chalobah bullish over his Chelsea future

Trevoh Chalobah is optimistic about his future at Chelsea due to the club's new approach to developing academy players.

Following a transfer ban imposed by FIFA for breaching rules when signing younger players, the club and new manager Frank Lampard had to dip into the club's extensive pool of younger talent, rather than splash out on new signings.

It means the likes of Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount have been afforded opportunities at Stamford Bridge with both players impressing many onlookers.

Striker Abraham has scored 13 goals in 25 top-flight appearances while Mount has scored six in 29, earning England recognition in the process.

Winger Callum Hudson-Odoi and right-back Reece James are also members of the Blues' first-team squad, while midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also fighting back to fitness, having spent the whole season on the sidelines.

Former Rangers wonderkid Billy Gilmour also burst onto the scene for the Blues by starring in their 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round triumph against runaway league leaders Liverpool earlier this month

And, in Chelsea's last Premier League game before the enforced break due to the coronavirus, academy duo Faustino Anjorin and Armando Broja were handed their debuts as the Blues battered Everton 4-0.

Chelsea also have a clutch of youngsters out on loan who are expected to challenge for a first-team slot in the future, with England youth international duo Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi both at Swansea.

Chalobah is in the same boat with the 20-year-old plying his trade at Huddersfield Town.

The Sierra Leone-born midfielder, whose elder brother Nathaniel plays for Watford, has made 30 appearances for the Terriers this season, scoring once.

However, he is looking further ahead in his career and believes the club's new-found policy of blooding younger players could see him offered a chance.

"I keep in contact with them almost every day as well - Reece, Mason, Fikayo, Tammy, all of them. I'm just happy for them because it shows the hard work they've put in and going out on loan for a few years has paid off," he said.

"If I do well myself, then hopefully next season I can join those boys I've grown up with as well."

- TEAMtalk media