John Terry: 'Chelsea must show more faith in youngsters'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 04 July 2017

Former Chelsea defender John Terry insists that the club have got many youngsters who are "ready" to step into the first team if given a chance by Antonio Conte.

John Terry has claimed that Chelsea have a better batch of youngster than AS Monaco, calling on his former club to give some of the current crop a chance to shine.

The 36-year-old remains the only Blues player to come through the academy ranks and establish himself in the first-team fold over the past two decades.

After officially bringing an end to his 22-year association with the West Londoners this summer, Terry believes that it would be wise for Chelsea to promote from within rather than spend big on the likes of rumoured targets Kylian Mbappe and Tiemoue Bakayoko.

"When I came through at Chelsea I was given five or six games to find my feet and probably wasn't even ready then," he told reporters. "But I was given a lot of opportunity by the club, from the supporters, who wanted a homegrown player coming through.

"We've got so many at Chelsea who are ready. Monaco have a couple and everybody's saying how good they are – believe me, we've got better players at Chelsea.

"Our boys are good enough, they just need the opportunity. Either that or they need to back themselves and go out on loan. What a lot of them do is get in the comfort zone at Chelsea, Man City or Arsenal and think 'I'm happy here'."

Terry, who made over 700 appearances during his time at Stamford Bridge, is now an Aston Villa player after penning a short-term deal on Monday.