Chelsea legend John Terry has named the emerging defensive prospect that he sees his younger self in, praising the home-grown player’s attitude as much as his talent.
Terry has worked as a coach at Chelsea over two spells for most of the last three years, taking on an academy role in 2023. He has therefore been well placed to see the results of the Cobham production line and centre-back Alfie Gilchrist is one that particularly stands out.
Gilchrist turns 21 at the end of this month and is currently on loan with Sheffield United, having made 17 first-team appearances for Chelsea last season. He has primarily played at right-back for both the Blades and the Blues so far in his senior career, but his natural position is in the centre.
“Literally from the first training session in which I saw him, he reminded me of myself. He was keen to learn, asking me questions about defending and constantly picking my brains over what I would do in different situations,” Terry told the Daily Mail of Gilchrist.
“He’s 100% in everything he does. Whether that’s the warm-up to get him going, he’s all-in. You don’t ever want to take that away. Even on his recovery days, he’s 100mph.
“As he gets older, he’ll understand how to manage that and how to be. But it’s a great trait to have for a young player and it can certainly set you apart. If you’re at Chelsea, you’ve got great ability in the first place to be there. But it’s really important for younger players to have that mentality and Alfie had that in abundance even from an early age.”
Gilchrist himself admitted it was “surreal” to have such a close bond with Terry.
“It was weird the first few times, yeah, surreal, but you get used to it,” he said. “You have a connection, a relationship, you can speak openly. He’s good for me. He had the top career and did it for a long time.”
Although around 15 years passed between Terry becoming a Chelsea first-teamer and the next academy product to cement a permanent place, the Blues have had a steady stream of home-grown players successfully reach the senior squad in recent years – including Levi Colwill, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Mason Mount stretching back to 2019.
“You can see there’s a pathway for the academy players because they’re doing it now,” Gilchrist reflected. “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.”
