10 Biggest Questions Surrounding Chelsea's Title Bid

3. Will Any Youngsters Be Given A Chance?

A regular criticism of Jose Mourinho is that he builds his successful teams using a chequebook rather than developing the young players already at his clubs. With no youngsters having broken into the first team since John Terry - Ryan Bertrand came closest, though will now be spending the season on loan to Southampton with an eye on a future transfer - Chelsea fans are becoming increasingly desperate to see Mourinho break his and the club's old habits and take advantage of some of the enormously promising youngsters hoping to one day get their chance to catch the manager's eye. The good news for fans is that the wealth of young talent available to Jose Mourinho is both deeper than at any other point in the club's recent history and arguably stronger than at any other club in the league. From 2005 to 2010, Frank Arnesen worked tireless to improve the standard and reach of the club's scouting network, resulting in many of the world's finest young footballers choosing to develop their skills on the Blues' training ground at Cobham. Increased investment in the club's academy has also yielded dividends, with a core of extremely exciting English players breaking through the ranks and securing both the Youth Cup and winning the U21 league last season. Following some excellent performances in pre-season, Mourinho has already declared that he will be the one to blame if the likes of midfielder Lewis Baker and forwards Izzy Brown and Dominic Solanke do not become full England internationals in the future. As the oldest of the three, Baker in particular is looking ready for some time on the first team field, having made his debut as a substitute against Derby in last season's FA Cup. Danish centre back Andreas Christensen and versatile Dutch defender Nathan Aké are in the first team squad this season, though one only has to look at Tomas Kalas last season to appreciate that their chances of getting football remain slim at best. Nevertheless, with so many exciting youngsters both at the club and out on loan, the feeling is that Mourinho will have to take a punt on at least one of them sooner rather than later, particularly given how the club are already struggling with foreign player quotas at home and in Europe. Will this be the year Chelsea finally find a successor to John Terry as the last true academy graduate to establish himself in the first team?