When Graham Potter walks out onto the Stamford Bridge pitch for the first time against RB Salzburg he will do so with eight Chelsea academy graduates readily available to him.
On a vitaly important Champions League night that will have little mercy for the uproar and tremors felt at Chelsea this week, Potter has the secure backdrop of a group of young players that have already got experience behind them.
It's a point that many fans can ignore when demanding more players come through the academy, but the presence of Cobham in the current setup is almost on an almost unprecedented level, especially for the Premier League.
READ MORE: Graham Potter sets exciting Chelsea target amid Todd Boehly verdict after Thomas Tuchel exit
For Chelsea this was a long-term problem. For too many years were the best youth players wasted, cycled out on loan and never given a chance. Such was the extent that only Ruben Loftus-Cheek looked likely to get into a team between 2015 and 2019. As a 26-year-old he is still there and is symbolic in many ways. The first player since John Terry to make such steps at Chelsea, but his path wasn't conventional.
Terry, who went on to become club captain and his own beckon of light for players passing through and progressing at Chelsea, knows how tough it is to get even one first team appearance and that itself is often enough motivation to come back hungrier for more.
He has already tipped Reece James for future captaincy, but the best player he has seen at the club is a relative unknown. When asked about it, Terry replied: "Probably a boy called Rob Wolleaston at Chelsea. He was like a midfielder/winger, had so much ability. I still know Rob now, but mentally didn't have that to go and push himself."
For all of the talent Terry saw, Wolleaston only made 13 minutes of top division action in England. He did make his Chelsea debut in a 4-1 loss in 1999, he would only play six more minutes for the club.
Terry could see the fall coming though, adding, "He got chose to train with the first team at a really young age, 17 or 18, did really well and Gullit told him he was going to play in the first team in a cup game. He then phoned up on the day of the game and said he was sick.
"All of us, if we were sick or felt like we were at the end of the world, we would have still gone and played the game, we wouldn't have given up that opportunity. He actually done it two or three times and he was just not mentally ready for the game, but ability-wise, incredible."
That didn't deter Terry from going on to power through the academy, winning five Premier League titles, one Champions League alongside a myriad of other trophies and individual awards in his glittering career. The hope is that James and Mason Mount alongside the other academy players at Chelsea can help push the club back to being title challengers and fill their boots like Terry did.
With James signing a new long-term deal, Armando Broja joining him and Mount likely to follow, the future is laid out at Stamford Bridge with Terry to thank. It could have been different for the 41-year-old though, he admitted that his Chelsea future wasn't always certain, saying, "During my time the only two clubs that approached me were Huddersfield when I first came through. Steve Bruce was manager of Huddersfield.
"Man City approached Chelsea, made an offer official. I sat with the owner, face-to-face and said 'I never want to leave Chelsea, that's a fact. If you want to sell me then it's a different story, I clearly won't want to stay. But I'm telling you off the bat that I never want to leave this football club'.
"Within that, I was due a new contract, we shook hands on a new contract, agreed a deal and I stayed another five, six years after that."
Terry would win eight of his 15 major honors after that, cementing himself as a Chelsea great and now as an academy consultant at the club he is still providing a pathway for those coming through.
READ NEXT:
Graham Potter has already found Chelsea's next N'Golo Kante but may have to pay big to sign him
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge:
Thomas Tuchel breaks silence on Chelsea sacking with sincere message to staff, players and fans
Transfers, nurturing youth, formations and his weakness - What Graham Potter brings to Chelsea
Five Chelsea legends nominated for greatest Premier League transfer of all time
