Amid the very public trials and tribulations of their first-team transfer activity, the other half of Chelsea's twin-track recruitment strategy is progressing without much drama.
Five months on from a summer that saw deals agreed for Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Omari Hutchinson and Gabriel Slonina, Chelsea have moved quickly since the transfer window reopened last Sunday to secure forward David Datro Fofana from Molde and midfielder Andrey Santos of Vasco da Gama.
They are also monitoring one of the latter's Brazil Under-20 team-mates, Athletico Paranaense forward Vitor Roque, and made a concerted effort to court Palmeiras sensation Endrick before the 16-year-old ultimately chose Real Madrid. Dynamo Moscow midfielder Arsen Zakharyan also remains of interest despite complications caused by UK government sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
More talented teenagers, English ones and others from further afield, will be targeted in future windows.
Speaking to Norwegian newspaper VG when Fofana's move was finalised, the Ivorian's agent Atta Aneke said of Chelsea: “They want to sign the best young talents in the world and have a very clear plan on how to make them succeed as best as possible.”
That “very clear plan” has proved compelling in meetings with many of these prospects and their advisors, despite the fact that one key aspect of it is not yet in place.
Co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly detailed it voluntarily during his extended interview at the SALT business conference in New York in August.
“The challenge that Chelsea has right now, one of them, is that when you have 18, 19, 20-year-old superstars, you can loan them out to other clubs but you put their development in someone else's hands,” Boehly said. “Our goal is to make sure we can show pathways for our young superstars to get onto the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time.
“To me, the way to do that is through another club somewhere — in a really competitive league in Europe.
“What we really need is a place to put our 18, 19, 20-year-olds to develop them, in Portugal, Belgium, or somewhere like that.”
Setting aside Boehly's slightly loose definition of “superstars”, his intent was clear: to establish a multi-club structure not for commercial or brand purposes, as Manchester City have done, but with a view to more closely and comprehensively managing the development of talented young players.
Boehly specifically cited the Red Bull empire's success with Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and more as a model, and Chelsea's subsequent appointment of Christopher Vivell from the latter club should be viewed partly within this context. Chelsea's other senior recruitment hires — Laurence Stewart, Paul Winstanley and Joe Shields — also have prior experience working within multi-club structures, often with a player-development focus.
Neil Bath's promotion from academy director to director of football development and operations further underlines how central the cultivation of young talent is to the long-term model Boehly and co-owners Clearlake want to implement at Chelsea. Shields, with an extensive and respected background in youth recruitment at Manchester City, should bring considerable value in this area, too.
Chelsea have also been proactive in searching for a suitable partner club.
Portimonense and Estoril, both in the middle to lower reaches of Portugal's top flight, were carefully considered but ultimately deemed unsuitable. Ligue 2 promotion chasers Sochaux were identified as a potential option in France, but no agreement could be reached.
That search takes on fresh urgency now that Chelsea's youth recruitment drive is in full swing. Chukwuemeka has already been trusted with real first-team minutes by head coach Graham Potter and he's regularly naming Hutchinson in his matchday squads, but Casadei, Slonina, Fofana and Santos all need senior exposure to continue their progression.
Boehly displayed good awareness during that SALT interview of the shortcomings of the mass loan system driven by then-Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo under Roman Abramovich's ownership; not even the unusually close informal relationship forged with Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in the first half of the 2010s could overcome the innately volatile nature of outsourcing player development to another independent club with their own interests and priorities.
But that is the reality currently facing Chelsea's newest young recruits: an underwhelming choice between staying at their parent club's Cobham base in a season where even domestic cup minutes are more limited than usual, or being farmed out to a side who are in the middle of their season and subjecting their career momentum to circumstances beyond their control.
Such uncertainty over the development pathway has other ripple effects.
Players currently in Chelsea's development squad and younger academy age groups are understandably assessing their first-team prospects in light of Boehly and Clearlake's aggressive spending to bolster Potter's first-team squad, which has involved largely targeting players under the age of 25.
Todd Boehly wants Chelsea to dominate the world youth market (Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Without the assurance of senior exposure at a satellite club invested in helping them fulfil their potential, some will be accepting of more conventional loans but others will not. In the case of the latter group, the trend of running down contracts and forcing permanent exits that became a more prominent issue in the final years under Abramovich will persist.
Boehly and Clearlake have already signalled their desire to avoid selling young talent wherever possible. Armando Broja was persuaded to spurn serious Premier League interest last summer and sign a long-term contract instead. Levi Colwill was only allowed to join Brighton on loan last summer, despite their preference to buy him.
The only notable young player Chelsea have sold since the ownership change is Billy Gilmour, also to Brighton, with that departure only sanctioned reluctantly after he personally pleaded to be allowed to leave. It's classic private-equity thinking: accumulate as many assets with potential for significant future growth as possible, and never sell low.
Chelsea stockpiling elite young talent is a move that Boehly and Clearlake hope will save — and perhaps even earn — them 10s of millions in the transfer market in the coming years, but it will only work if a platform can be provided that eases their upward path.
Acquiring some of the best young footballers around is only half the battle.