Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has delivered on a promise he made to Chelsea fans after he was appointed as Chelsea boss.
When Lampard was appointed as Chelsea boss last July, he promised to develop young stars at the club.
According to figures published by the CIES Football Observatory via Football London, Lampard has delivered on that promise.
According to the CIES, only Norwich City has given more Premier League minutes to under-21 players than Chelsea in the first half of this season.
Up to New Year’s Day, under-21s accounted for 23.3% of minutes in Frank Lampard’s team. Norwich were leading the way with 24.2% and Arsenal were on 17.8%.
This season alone, Lampard has handed debuts to nine academy graduates in all competitions, with Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Reece James among the young players to have racked up more than 1,000 minutes in the league up to March.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has played 770 minutes since returning from his achilles injury.