One of Chelsea's academy players was called into a meeting at the training ground recently and, on entering the room, spotted that '5 per cent' had been written in large letters.
During the course of the conversation which followed, the teenager was asked what he thought it meant. The player admitted he had no idea. It was then explained to him that the percentage represented how much everyone at Chelsea believed in him, that he was among the top five per cent of youngsters at the club and that they feel he has what it takes to make it into the first team.
Naturally, the individual walked out with confidence boosted and full of belief about his future at Chelsea. It is possible similar discussions took place with many others and you can understand why people might crave such reassurance at the moment.
Since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over at Chelsea last year, no one can question their ambition and willingness to invest. Over £500million ($611.3m) has been spent on new players and they continue to try to improve how every department of the club is run.
The determination to maintain a high standard in the academy is clear, too. Significant transfer fees and/or wages have been spent on Cesare Casadei, Omari Hutchinson and Jimmy-Jay Morgan to name just three. The latest recruit, 17-year-old Dujuan Richards, was signed from the Phoenix Football Academy in Jamaica, with Chelsea beating Newcastle United in the process.
Director of football development and operations Neil Bath, who has worked in the academy for over two decades, has no doubts the new owners are committed to the plan of academy players progressing into the first team.
When asked if that was the case, he said: “Yes, 100 per cent, I really do. It's always a team effort, everybody's in it. (Former manager) Frank (Lampard) put them in and gave them the opportunity. He said if they do well, they will get an opportunity. Subsequently, Thomas (Tuchel) has kept going, Graham (Potter) has kept going. They (the new owners) have said that we will continue that opportunity and I am very confident they are excited about supporting and taking this vision forward. It will get their full support.”
But the task of being promoted into the senior squad is not going to get any easier for junior talent. Current head coach Potter already has 30 players to choose from and that figure does not include under-21 players Lewis Hall and Hutchinson, who have featured for the first team this season.
Potter's squad will be trimmed in the summer to bring the numbers down, but Chelsea's transfer business means the pathway for youngsters is still going to be difficult.
Chelsea are determined to lower the average age of the first-team squad and to have a dressing room full of players aged 18-25. Their business in the last two windows reflects this. Enzo Fernandez (22), Mykhailo Mudryk (22), Wesley Fofana (22), Noni Madueke (21), Benoit Badiashile (21), David Datro Fofana (20), Carney Chukwuemeka (19), Malo Gusto (19), Gabriel Slonina (18) and Andrey Santos (18) have all joined at a cost approaching £400million. They also signed contracts ranging from six to eight years.
This means academy players are not only up against senior players who cost a lot of money, a factor which all previous generations have had to cope with, but they are of a similar age or not much older than they are. If all goes well, the new signings are not going to be leaving any time soon. The next transfer windows should see more players who are within the 18-25 bracket arrive, too. That is quite some message to send down the food chain.
For those who have progressed through the ranks since they were kids, there is also the club's clear intent to buy the best youngsters at junior level to contend with.
So how are people feeling about the situation? As with most matters, you are going to find differing opinions, although there are already some warning signs. Highly rated striker Jude Soonsup-Bell left the club for Tottenham in January, while talks with talented duo Malik Mothersille and Tudor Mendel-Idowu over new deals are not progressing partly because of concerns over the club's plans for them going forward. Both are out of contract in the summer.
Jude Soonsup-Bell swapped Chelsea for Tottenham in January (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
There is also the possibility of expensive signings dropping down to the under-21s to get game time because the competition in Potter's side is so fierce. Datro Fofana, who joined from Molde for more than €10million, has started the last two Premier League 2 matches instead of a homegrown option.
But speaking anonymously to The Athletic in order to protect relationships, one source close to a youth international at the club does not have a negative view of the situation.
“I am a great believer in meritocracy,” he says. “The understanding has to be that if you are playing for one of the best clubs in the world, then you have to be the best of the best. Chelsea are always going to sign new players and you have to prove you are better than the players who come in. That is relevant for any top club you play for.
“You can debate that Chelsea are signing more than most, that a lot of them are young so there is going to be a bit of a blockage ahead. But I am not one to over-worry. You just have to get on with it. I have had a chat with the player and explained this is the way it is.
“But there is always the option to go on loan in future and if he does not get a chance in the first team in the end, you then have to lower your sights and drop down to a lesser club.”
Another close confidant of an academy player feels the same way. “He has been at Chelsea for many years and knows all about competition,” they explain, again speaking anonymously to protect relationships. “As far as he is concerned, it's a case of 'bring it on'. This is life at a top club. The youth level is very competitive anyway so he is used to it. This is Chelsea standards.”
Other sources with connections to academy players spoke in a similar fashion to The Athletic, stressing there is no cause for panic and that working with better players is a good thing because their standards will improve.
This was the same attitude Mason Mount, Reece James, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja all had as they developed in the academy and now they are established members of the first team squad.
Potter has regularly involved young players in senior training sessions, which obviously helps. With several away at the World Cup, 12 members of the development squad were involved in Chelsea's winter training camp in Abu Dhabi three months ago ahead of the Premier League season restarting.
Encouragement has been further provided by seeing Bashir Humphreys (now on loan at German club Paderborn), Hutchinson and Hall all play for Potter's side this season. In Hall's case, he started matches at Manchester City, Newcastle and Liverpool.
But what has happened to Hall since being in the first XI at Anfield two months ago also provides a note of caution. He has not featured again and has been playing for the under-21s instead. Obviously, the 18-year-old is still highly rated and the club are in contract talks, but a combination of the January window and established players returning from injury means there appears to be no more room for Hall (he has been an unused substitute on three occasions).
There was a real buzz surrounding Hutchinson, who joined from Arsenal last summer, after his performances in Premier League 2 and he was rewarded with two appearances as a substitute against Manchester City. But he has not been involved with the senior squad in the past two months either and has seen Madueke, who plays in his favoured right-wing position, join from PSV Eindhoven for £29million. Hutchinson has actually played more minutes for Jamaica, starting in two friendlies against Trinidad & Tobago earlier this month.
In a recent interview, Chukwuemeka and Fofana both singled out Hutchinson as a star for the future, with Chukwuemeka highlighting his “fearlessness and dribbling”. But it will be a while, it seems, before he gets to show it at Stamford Bridge. A loan move to West Brom collapsed in the final hours on deadline day in January and a loan away will surely be revisited in the summer.
Lewis Hall plays against Manchester City in the Premier League earlier this season. He has not featured for Chelsea's first team since January 21 (Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Chelsea will highlight their ability to sign Morgan and Richards as an indication young players have faith they can make it at the club. Richards' agent said as much. After formalising the deal, he was interviewed on Caribbean TV channel SportsMax. He said: “We had at least four strong clubs at different levels (wanting to sign him). The most important thing was the pathway, not the money. The money will come. It is about the pathway, who is going to allow him playing time, who is going to give him the best options even if he went on loan.”
It says a lot that Morgan made the move from Southampton to Chelsea despite his close friend Tyler Dibling asking to go back to St Mary's Stadium within months of joining Chelsea last summer.
Under-21s regular Charlie Webster agreed a new contract in January, too, as did promising under-18s pair Ronnie Stutter and Harrison McMahon, so the upbeat message is still coming across.
However, one agent with connections to the academy scene at Chelsea, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, argues the academy's ability to attract and keep players is not simply down to the prospect of first-team football.
“A lot of it will be down to the wages,” he says. “Chelsea are one of the best payers at this level. For example, one youngster who joined them last year doubled his salary by joining them. Youngsters will know, if they leave, they will have to accept a pay cut as well as perhaps go to a place where the coaching and facilities are not as good.
“Of course, Chelsea can sell people the dream, too. They can point to what Reece and Mason have done and what Lewis has been able to do this season. Chelsea also provide a platform for youngsters to shine. Every youth game will have scouts, domestic and abroad, in the stands watching.
“One way to get youngsters more minutes is Chelsea setting up a multi-club model, they have been open about that. But that is not going to happen overnight. What will the players who are there now do until then?”
Clearly, not everyone is content with what is going on. One source close to an academy player, who spoke anonymously to protect relationships, is concerned with what the future holds.
“I am not convinced with what they're trying to do, what the plan is for my player,” he says. “I am thinking about the future because they are basically signing players of a similar age or just a bit older. There does not seem to be much of an eye on those who are already there.
“It is not just about the money, it is about playing football. You can earn a good sum but are you going to fulfil your ambition if you stay? It is something we have to think about. I know we are not the only ones talking like this. Others feel the same. Chelsea have so many players, too many and they will probably bring more in, too.”
Chelsea's new owners do not want a repeat of the Jamal Musiala situation. He left Chelsea's academy for Bayern Munich in 2019 and is now considered to be one of the best footballers in the world.
Finding or developing someone as good as Musiala is the ambition. But with so many options to compete against, it seems inevitable some of Chelsea's most promising young talent will still end up playing for somebody else.