Chelsea’s Academy Revamp: Poaching Coaches and Rising Talents to Reignite Cobham’s Glory

It was three years ago, when Chelsea were still owned by Roman Abramovich, that a memo made its way around their Cobham academy outlining a new project called ‘Vision 2030’.

The brainchild of Neil Bath, staff were informed it was an internal strategy containing five targets towards which they should all strive to ensure they remain the envy of youth football.

One: we want 15 per cent of Chelsea’s Premier League minutes to come from the academy. Two: 25 per cent of the first-team squad. Three: to continually achieve above national average GCSE and A-Level results. Four: to have more players in the professional game from their stable than any other. Five: to win more national and international trophies than their competition.

This was no club-wide directive, as if Chelsea’s first-team changing room would open its doors to any Tom, Dick or Harry to make sure these objectives could be obtained. More of a mission statement for the academy; a challenge to produce players who could not be ignored and one which insiders say the entire youth network is continuing to work towards today.

While others may vilify Chelsea’s academy as a PSR playground – a pipeline primed for bleeding to stay in line with the Premier League’s financial rules – the ultimate dream is to find the next Levi Colwill or Reece James. One Blues source employed as a schoolboy scout, searching for prospects as young as eight years old, tells Mail Sport even he has had ‘2030’ cited in meetings by superiors as a ‘direction of travel that all the age groups should be moving in’.

Levi Colwill is the latest Cobham graduate to have played his way into the first team this term

But the club were forced to swallow a bitter pill for their ‘Vision 2030’ aims with the departure of Neil Bath (pictured in 2015)

It is still a source of satisfaction that when the Premier League needed a setting to celebrate 10 years of their Elite Player Performance Plan, they chose Cobham. Chelsea have long prided themselves on being leaders in the field of developing fledglings and with others including Tottenham catching up in terms of facilities, the Blues sensed a refresh was required.

For Bath, ‘Vision 2030’ was about going again, unveiled not long after their Champions League triumph in May 2021. That was a final in which two graduates in James and Mason Mount started against Manchester City, with three other representatives among the substitutes. Bath did not want anyone thinking their work was done and, alongside his close confidante Jim Fraser, he spent that evening at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao sitting in front of Abramovich.

When the Russian was ousted after the invasion of Ukraine the following year, there was apprehension as to what the future held for Chelsea’s famed academy. Bath held several meetings with the club’s new ownership, Todd Boehly being the face of the American takeover at the time. He received positive feedback, including assurances there were no plans to stop the Cobham conveyor belt from producing as spectacularly as it had been.

Wanting to lead the way in new technology, they struck a five-year deal with AiSCOUT – the world’s first automated talent analysis and development platform – to become the academy’s research partner. They pledged that was only the start of their investment in youth. They told Bath that the ‘Vision 2030’ project should very much remain in place.

The Champions League-winning 2020-21 side contained academy stars such as James, Mason Mount (centre) and Tammy Abraham (right)

Bath was instrumental to helping the youth side win four consecutive FA Youth Cups (pictured with their fourth in 2018)

Yet today, this initiative is being overseen in the absence of its original orchestrator. Bath’s resignation in the summer after 31 years of service, and that of Fraser, sent shockwaves through the youth system on the eve of Chelsea’s annual celebration at Stamford Bridge where the scholars formally sign their agreements with the club.

Chelsea tried their best to keep their academy guru who was instrumental in the Under 18s becoming the first side since the Manchester United Busby Babes to lift five consecutive FA Youth Cups. Conversations with Bath went on for months over a compromise, including the offer for him to take up whatever role he would like to play moving forward. But his mind was made up.

Inevitably, it led to speculation that he was disillusioned with the club’s strategy. That he feared Cobham had become a financial release-value, his boys representing ‘pure profit’ in the eyes of the Premier League. That top talents were picking other pathways, with Rio Ngumoha leaving for Liverpool. That the world’s best starlets were being brought in from elsewhere, such as Kendry Paez and Estevao Willian, the 17-year-old wunderkinds from Ecuador and Brazil who will be immediately thrust into Chelsea’s first-team squad from next summer.

Bath clarified in a statement that he simply needed a break after three decades of duty, though he agreed to continue working until successors were found. Only wanting to hire the best of the best, Chelsea have never shied from raiding Premier League rivals in their pursuit of success. Not for players, like Brighton’s midfielder Moises Caicedo. Not for coaches, like Brentford’s set-piece analyst Bernardo Cueva. Not for directors, like Southampton’s recruitment chief Joe Shields.

Young starlets may be concerned that the club is looking abroad at talents like Kendry Paez

Cobham is no exception, and the hirings concluded in the last two weeks have been made with coherence in mind. Though their buildings are separated by a road at the training ground, Chelsea do not want their youth and men existing as two different entities. The ownership are seeking an aligned approach, a united operation from top to bottom with the focus being on providing players elite enough to make the step up without the need for endless loans.

Sources say they have targeted a ‘world-class workforce’ in order to satisfy that, one worthy of ‘building on Neil Bath’s legacy’. They have hired Glenn van der Kraan as the academy’s technical director after snagging him from Manchester City, his mantra being: ‘Change the world, one person at a time.’ It was taken into account that he already knew Chelsea’s head coach Enzo Maresca, another sign of the unity desired with the pair having crossed paths at City.

They have promoted Jack Francis to become their director of football operations to lead the youth system alongside Van der Kraan. They have secured Delroy Ebanks from Newcastle to act as their head of recruitment after he gained a reputation as one of youth football’s finest talent spotters.

They have named Filipe Coelho, previously of Benfica and employed from Estoril, as head coach of the Under 21s with the Portuguese promising to play the same desired style that has been asked of Maresca. By having ‘the Chelsea way’ consistent between the two groups, the hope is those stepping up to the first team can enjoy an easier transition. Their last outing was a 6-0 Premier League 2 win away at Fulham in which a 20-year-old called Richard Olise, the brother of Michael, scored alongside a 16-year-old nabbed from Brighton for a compensation package worth £1million rising to £4.25m named Shumaira Mheuka.

Among the shrewd recruiting has been the luring of Glenn van der Kraan from Man City

Former Brighton man Sam Jewell was brought in to act as director of global recruitment

They have put Hassan Sulaiman in charge of the Under 18s after impressing internally in charge of the Under 16s. As with Coelho, Sulaiman is teaching his teenagers how to adhere to what has been branded the ‘Chelsea academy culture’ which includes playing from the back, their latest test resulting in a 4-1 victory over Newcastle.

There are too many scouts to name – more than previously worked for Chelsea prior to the current ownership’s arrival – but the most recent recruit has been Ayo Durojaiye from Arsenal.

Shields, the club’s co-director of recruitment and talent who arrived from Southampton, has been heavily involved in these hirings. As has Sam Jewell, brought in from Brighton to act as director of global recruitment. They both carry backgrounds in youth scouting, and report directly to Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, the co-sporting directors who visit the first-team changing room after every match to show support, win or lose.

Van der Kraan is bound to come armed with his own ideas, including on ‘Vision 2030’, but those working inside the academy sum up by saying they are optimistic for the future.

Richard Olise (right) is the brother of Bayern Munich star Michael and a talent in the U21 side

Tyrique George’s Europa Conference League and Carabao Cup minutes is a promising portent

‘Change can be tough for some people to take,’ one source summarises. ‘From the outside, supporters see what has been successful and may feel as if we’re going backwards. But we’re definitely not. We’re moving forwards and with the times. It’s a very positive place to be. We feel backed by the owners and directors. They themselves have said the academy is ‘fundamental’ to the future of the club.’ Another contact who is the representative of a current academy youngster adds: ‘It’s obvious there are significant hurdles to get into the first team. But in the main, Cobham produces players that go on to build successful careers elsewhere.’

Bath’s boots may be big ones to fill, but Chelsea are confident the talent will continue to pour through under their new regime, Tyrique George having already appeared in the Conference League this season under Maresca and more minutes set to follow in the coming months for Josh Acheampong, Kiano Dyer and Harrison McMahon.

They have a plan, the prospects, and the personnel. Now to see where Chelsea are come 2030.