Frank Lampard is guiding Chelsea into fourth place in the Premier League table was arguably beyond most people’s estimation.
However, he wants to keep improving and not just settle for what Chelsea have at this moment. That includes bringing more players through, and there’s one name in particular that keeps impressing at the Academy.
“I don’t want us to be a development team, where people talk about our Academy players coming through. I want us to be a team that’s looking to bridge the gap going upwards,” he told the official Chelsea magazine, with details of the interview reprinted on the official Chelsea website.
“It was always going to be a priority [to establish a pathway from the academy to the senior team] and the relationships were already there.
“Joe [Edwards] and Jody [Morris] knew all the players, I knew the more prominent ones, and we all knew Neil Bath and Jim Fraser [from the Academy] well. It just had to be reconnected because it hadn’t been as connected in recent years.
“I wanted to know all the players, the names of the ones who were training well and deserved a chance. It’s easy to pluck a Billy Gilmour, but it’s also a case of hearing that, say, Henry Lawrence is training well – then get him over, get him training with us.
“All those little details are important and it’s brilliant, it’s what it’s all about – it shouldn’t be any other way. “I’m certainly excited about the squad we’ve got, with the young players and if we can get a few additions for areas I feel we need.”