“You can see there’s a pathway” – Latest Cobham success story defends Chelsea academy | OneFootball

Alfie Gilchrist has been speaking to the Daily Mail about his career so far, and according to him a loan to the Championship was a natural next step after his senior breakout with the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino last season.

“It was just the next step for me, you know? There was a big squad at Chelsea, I wanted to play this season, and this is what I needed to do for myself. So far, it’s worked out to be the right decision,” the defender said of his season-long move to Sheffield United.

“You can see there’s a pathway for the academy players because they’re doing it now. You can name off the players that have come out of Chelsea’s academy – not just playing for Chelsea, but elsewhere as well. Everyone knows what a good place it is there.”

With Trevoh Chalobah already loaned with a view to a sale, we were hoping Alfie would stick around to provide some academy representation in defence. But the loan made a lot of sense for him, and he’s certainly making the most of it now.

Alfie Gilchrist celebrates a goal.

Gilchrist set for superb career – wherever he ends up

Given the queue of central defenders already on the books at Chelsea, plus those we’re linked to in every transfer window, PLUS those coming up from the academy behind Gilchrist, he faces an incredibly tough battle to make it into our first team squad, let alone become a starter.

But the qualities he showed in his cameos last season, plus his solid first campaign as a regular now he’s on loan, show he’s got all the potential needed to be a huge hit somewhere. Last summer there was talk of a Serie A move to Como, and would love a European move next to develop Alfie further.