Chelsea are known to have one of the best academy systems in Europe, with the likes of Peter Osgood graduating from the academy, John Terry going from a 14-year-old signed by the club to the club captain, and a crop of players who are now scattered across the league at various clubs.
Mason Mount, Dominic Solanke, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Lewis Hall, Valentino Livramento, Marc Guehi, Nathan Ake, Declan Rice, Tariq Lamptey and Ian Maatsen are just some of those in England, whilst the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jamal Musiala and Conor Gallagher are all thriving outside of England.
Whilst Chelsea have clearly produced high-end talent in every area of the pitch, there seems to be a clear pattern of highly rated full-back talents emerging through Cobham, with plenty of the above list leaving the club due to the emergence of another Cobham talent, who goes by the name Reece James.
Chelsea’s right-back situation
James is now 25 years old and has made 168 appearances for Chelsea since breaking through into the first team from the academy, following a prior loan spell at Wigan Athletic.
The talented right-back has scored 12 goals and provided 23 assists in that time, totalling 11,503 minutes played, which includes playing a significant role in their 2020/21 Champions League triumph.
Despite the clear abundance of talent James has, one thing that has held him back throughout his career is persistent injury troubles, already missing 104 games in his Chelsea career so far, suffering from injuries or illness on 15 occasions.
Malo Gusto is another talented right back Chelsea have on their books, with him and James often rotating in Enzo Maresca‘s side, looking to offer tactical balance for the Italian in his game plan.
However, Chelsea may have let go another Cobham academy graduate who would have been a perfect figure for this squad, not only adding extra experience, but also some extra 1v1 defensive ability.
The ex-Chelsea star who’s outshining James & Guston
Chelsea sold Ola Aina to Italian club, Torino, back in 2019, allowing the fullback to leave for a fee of around £8.7m.
Six years later, the 28-year-old finds himself playing for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, with his side currently sitting third in the league, and his performances are playing a massive part in this.
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Ola Aina vs Reece James vs Malo Gusto comparison |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Aina |
James |
Gusto |
|
Goals + Assists |
0.12 |
0.32 |
0.12 |
|
Progressive Carries |
1.99 |
0.70 |
2.24 |
|
Progressive Passes |
3.53 |
5.96 |
5.20 |
|
Key Passes |
0.41 |
1.23 |
0.92 |
|
Crosses into Pen Area |
0.29 |
0.18 |
0.26 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
1.87 |
1.93 |
2.63 |
|
Tackles |
1.91 |
1.23 |
2.24 |
|
Blocks |
1.12 |
1.58 |
1.64 |
|
Interceptions |
1.20 |
0.97 |
0.99 |
|
Ball Recoveries |
5.77 |
4.56 |
5.26 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
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When comparing Aina to James and Gusto this season, you can see the 28-year-old offers even stronger defensive qualities with ball recoveries and interceptions, but can also get forward and put dangerous crosses into the box, making 0.29 crosses into the penalty area per 90.
Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley labelled Aina as “exceptional” back in December, alluding to many other Forest players getting the credit, but not enough being shown to the full-back. According to former Nigeria international and Wigan Athletic striker, Julius Efosa Aghahowa, he’s even now “the best right-back in the Premier League“.
Aina has proven himself as a Premier League quality fullback, who offers versatility to play on both sides, can lead by example, and brings brilliant intangibles to a squad.
This could have been the exact character Chelsea needed to keep around from their own academy, especially when looking at the injury-prone nature of the super-talented James.
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