John Terry has raved about the potential of Chelsea academy product Alfie Gilchrist and said he was ‘reminded of himself’ when watching the young defender train.
During his 19-year playing career at Stamford Bridge, Terry established himself as one the Premier League’s best-ever centre-backs.
Capped 78 times for his country, the Englishman skippered Chelsea to all five of their league titles and kept 214 clean sheets in 492 appearances – the most of any defender.
Having hung up the boots, Terry spent time away from the Blues, working at both Aston Villa and Leicester City under Dean Smith but returned to the West London club in 2021 to help bring through the next generation of talents at the club’s academy.
In that time, several young players have made the successful jump into the first team but few have left Terry more impressed than centre-back Gilchrist.
‘Literally from the first training session in which I saw him, he reminded me of myself,’ Terry said, told the Daily Mail when asked about the 20-year-old. ‘He was keen to learn, asking me questions about defending and constantly picking my brains over what I would do in different situations.
‘And he’s 100 per cent 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 100 miles per hour.
‘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, a boyhood fan of the club growing up, made his debut under Mauricio Pochettino last season and celebrated wildly after scoring his debut first-team goal in a 6-0 win over Everton in April.
Now on loan at Sheffield United in the Championship, Gilchrist, who is mentored by Terry, has his eyes on a regular starting berth in Enzo Maresca’s side next season.
And the former Blues captain is confident that Gilchrist can fulfil his ambitions.
‘Even when I was having conversations with Alfie, he’d just broken into the Under 21s, which was great, but he had targets he wanted to hit – clean sheet target, goal target, and he wanted to make his debut for the first team,’ Terry added.
‘Hopefully, he comes back to Chelsea and breaks through into our team.
‘When you see the journeys of these young players, and you play a small part in helping them, it’s really rewarding for me, being Chelsea through and through.
‘I love it. Alfie and all of his family are Chelsea, too, so I know deep down he wants to come back and break through.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Chelsea exploring transfer deal for defender likened to Real Madrid legend
MORE: Chelsea star told to stop ‘moaning’ amid Manchester United transfer links
MORE: Emmanuel Petit tells Arsenal to sign Chelsea title winner as a ‘rotation’ option
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
