Many people at Chelsea have been taken aback by the club’s latest announcement.
Since the new owners took over, the Blues have been willing to undergo significant transformation in all parts of the organization.
Only Reece James and Ben Chilwell remain from the team that won the Champions League three years ago.
Neil Bath, the club’s academy chief, has been a consistent presence in recent years.
After more than 30 years with the club, it was revealed that he would be leaving his position.
James and Gallagher reacted to Neil Bath’s resignation
Several first-team players have responded to the news, including academy graduate Conor Gallagher, who told TalkSPORT:
“I honestly can not speak highly enough of Neil Bath and Jim Fraser. I’ve not messaged them yet because I’ve only just found out. What they’ve done for Chelsea’s academy is mindblowing. We’ve been the best academy over the last 15 years.”
Skipper James, who also went through the academy procedure, simply wrote on his Instagram story: “Legend.”
There is now a lot of uncertainty and in some cases fear about what is to come for the academy from now.
The Blues have made it no secret they are more interested at this stage in signing the next big thing from around the world.
Chelsea signed Kendry Paez and Estevao Willian
The standout addition thus far has been Kendry Paez, who demonstrated his true potential at the age of 17 during Ecuador’s recent Copa America run.
However, his quality may already be surpassed by the signing of Estevao Willian. Both players are scheduled to join the first team in 12 months.
The future for someone like Rio Ngumoha, who has also been touted to reach that level, does not look promising right now, and Chelsea may regret losing him if he does leave the club.