Chelsea have one of the best development centres in world football at Cobham and, even if there is limited space for youth players around the first-team picture at Stamford Bridge, there are a number of graduates earning their living throughout the English league systems.
However, for those looking further afield for opportunities to progress their careers, Sweden’s Allsvenskan has emerged as a prime destination.
"I got rejected countless times on countless trials; I would guess about 25 times at least," Kevin Wright told Goal.
The left-back is now starring at Orebro but played alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Andreas Christensen and Nathan Ake during his Chelsea days before being released as a 20-year-old after an injury-hit 2016.
“I have always maintained confidence in my ability,” Wright explained. “When a manager tells me I am not for them, I get disappointed but I knew that I had the quality and ability to make it elsewhere.
"I never took it to heart or got too down. I just thought that’s their business. It’s their opinion, they can have an opinion on me but it doesn’t have to be the end for me.
"That helped my mentality because I went abroad to Norway and I wasn’t playing as much, so I dropped a level to a Swedish second division team.
"Because of my past experience, that allowed me to block out what people are saying and focus on my football. Some people might have thought at that time that I wasn’t doing well, going from Chelsea to the Swedish second division, but that time just made me a stronger person mentally.
"I just focused on improving and what I needed to do. I have always been strong-willed and focused on my mission regardless of the bumps in the road."
Isak Ssewankambo left Cobham on his own terms when he was 18 after a first-team opportunity came up at NAC Breda. There followed moves to Derby County and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Molde.
Now a regular at ambitious Ostersund, the 24-year-old is finally playing in his home country a decade after Chelsea plucked him from Swedish minnows Larje-Angereds IF as a talented teenager.
However, he remains grateful for his experience in England, which he believes made him a better player.
"Chelsea scouts came to watch my team, which was known across Gothenburg as producing great players. I played well and I went on trial before signing with Chelsea. I had wanted to go abroad to develop anyway. The level was much higher, more serious and more competitive," Ssewankambo said.
"In Sweden, you have a team with maybe four really good players but, at Chelsea, everyone was like that. So, it is not easy to play young players in a club that wants to win so much.
"At the same time, I felt like I was improving at Chelsea and getting a good education. I was positive that if I didn’t succeed in making it at Chelsea, then it was still a good platform to succeed somewhere else."
Ostersunds have a big English influence, with now-Brighton manager Graham Potter having masterminded a surprise Europa League run in 2018. The club specialises in plucking English talent from the academy system, as underlined by the fact that their squad presently features players from Chelsea, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Another former Chelsea starlet at Ostersunds is Charlie Colkett, who was once considered a jewel of the academy at Cobham due to his technical abilities in central midfield.
With Loftus-Cheek getting first-team chances, Charly Musonda still at Chelsea and Jeremie Boga excelling in Serie A at Sassuolo, some may regard Colkett's move to Sweden as a sign that he was not cut out for the highest level.
However, coach Adi Viveash – who won the FA Youth Cup with Colkett, Ssewankambo and Wright in 2012 – thinks that the 24-year-old's time will come.
"Colkett had the most ability that I have seen in a player and I still feel he will rise again," Viveash told Goal. "He was an 11-year-old in my Under-12s group and I loved working with him.
"The way his career has gone, with him going to Sweden, has been a surprise to me ,if I am honest. Maybe he has taken a slightly different curve than he or I would have hoped but he will have learned a lot about himself. He had incredible ability as a young player."
Ssewankambo also thinks that Colkett's bravery will pay off and he has challenged other English youngsters to look to Europe to find teams like Ostersunds if they suit possession football.
"Charlie didn’t know that it was going to be this competitive here," he said. "It was better than he thought. There are good players here, so English players can’t come here and automatically boss it.
"You need to come here and perform. Everyone knows these players come from Chelsea, so they get instant respect. English players should look not only at Sweden but Holland and Belgium, as they have good development leagues.
"You don’t need to just stay in the English system. It's great if you get a good Championship team, but if not, then look outside of England. There’s a chance to express yourself more in other leagues and the style of play in these leagues could suit certain players more.
"It is just that they don’t know about these leagues. It can pay to open your eyes and see some other options."
Only Loftus-Cheek and Christensen made it to the first team from Ssewankambo's generation, which led to frustration in the academy that so few were getting chances with the senior squad.
Wright never viewed making it at Chelsea as a realistic possibility but he is buoyed by the fact that new manager Frank Lampard is now putting so much faith in academy products.
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"It has changed a lot now; the youth players get the chance in the first team, which they deserve," Wright said. "When I was at Chelsea, it wasn’t so much about getting into the first team because I don’t think anyone had done it since John Terry.
"That wasn’t a big aim of mine. I just wanted to be the best player I could be, and improve as much as I could. I wanted to enjoy the experience and become a professional footballer somewhere. I think that was my main objective.
"At the time when I was released, I don’t think England was the best place for me to develop as a young player with no first-team experience. It was difficult for me to go and get an opportunity.
"Going to League One and League Two clubs wasn’t something I was interested in doing and I don’t think it would have developed me as much as what I went and did."
Ssewankambo, a Sweden Under-21 international, is also glad that he left Chelsea, where he says managers were reluctant to select young players because they were under so much pressure to deliver results.
"Of course, when you go there first, you want to breakthrough,” he said. “Then, you notice managers are coming in and out at a rapid rate so you can understand why a new manager might not want to play young players.
"There’s an increased risk of losing to begin with and you get sacked. It is not easy to play young players in a club that wants to win so much.
"I think I can return to a top-five league and anything is possible but I am in a good stage where I can improve and work on myself. I hope to play for a big club again."
Wright is just as optimistic about his future, revealing that his move to Sweden has changed his entire perception of the game.
"I feel like I am just getting warmed up," he said. "I haven’t reached anywhere near my peak. I go to training every day with a desire to improve and I am always trying to give 100 per cent. I feel myself improving every day and every game.
"We all came to Sweden to get that game time. It helps you kick on. I think too many players try to use going abroad as their last option but you need to come here when you are on your way up, when you are in good shape to improve and use it to take the next step. That is our mindset.
"I am just getting started. I think in a couple of years I will look back at how much progress I have made. I feel like I will get to a top-five league. I would love to play in my home country but only if the right opportunity comes around.
"I wouldn’t come back for the sake of it. Clubs like my own have opened my eyes, I have seen how it is abroad and that you can still have a good career and enjoy your football.
"For now, though, I am just focusing on the next day and working hard."
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