MAURIZIO SARRI became the first Chelsea manager to go an entire season without handing out a first-team debut to an academy star since Roman Abramovich took over in 2003.
A tweet from a Chelsea youth account highlighted the alarming statistic for any youngster hoping to make the break into Sarri’s side.
It read: “On the understanding that it’s unlikely to happen in the Europa League Final, Maurizio Sarri becomes the first manager to last a full season in the Roman Abramovich era not to give out at least one academy debut in a campaign.”
In the Premier League, veterans Willy Caballero and Gary Cahill as well as medal-winner Victor Moses made two appearances. No one played just a single game.
Youngster Ethan Ampadu, 18, played in five matches this season – three in the Europa League and two in the Carabao Cup – but he made his first-team debut last season.
The same goes for fellow 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Although he made his first England start before his first Premier League start, he also stepped out with the senior squad under Antonio Conte in the 2017/18 campaign.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen were the only other academy graduates to appear for the Blues this season, with the majority of their fringe players shipped out on loan.
One of those yet to make his first-team debut for the West Londoners is Mason Mount.
He has enjoyed a fine season with Derby, scoring ten goals and helping the Rams into the play-offs.
As revealed by SunSport, Chelsea have applied to get him a visa for their pre-season tour to Japan, suggesting the creative midfielder is part of the plans for next season.
Others who could be ready to make their break include Tammy Abraham – who has played in the first-team before, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James, who has been training with his parent club since returning from his loan at Wigan.
But does Sarri have a good reason for not handing out any debuts?
After all, Gareth Southgate was criticised for giving out ‘easy caps’ to England players with just a few good games under their belts.
The Italian only the fifth manager since the Russian billionaire took over to complete an entire season in charge – Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho – five times – Carlo Ancelotti and Conte twice are the others.
And with the pressure constantly on to deliver silverware, could Sarri really afford to risk playing the kids?
The race for the top four went down to the wire while he knew winning the Europa League could be his only way into the Champions League.
And even in the domestic cups, only three ties were against lower-league opposition.
Chelsea saw off Derby in the Carabao Cup and then Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup – all Championship sides.
The remaining six cup matches were against Premier League rivals, including Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City.
So if Sarri gambled and it didn’t come off, he could have ruined his chance of silverware – and we all know silverware is the currency that helps keep Chelsea managers in their jobs.
