Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has suggested that Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George were in line to be loaned out last summer.
Much has been made of Chelsea's approach to homegrown talent since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital purchased the club in 2022, Conor Gallagher among the academy graduates that have been sold to make pure profit with the relevant financial regulations.
The Blues began the campaign with Reece James and Levi Colwill as their solitary homegrown talent, with Trevoh Chalobah loaned out to Crystal Palace prior to his January return.
However, Acheampong and George have since been promoted to the senior setup and secured a permanent place in the dressing room on the back of their successful transition from the academy.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Maresca talked up their progress, indicating it was not the plan for their quick promotion to his squad.
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"We need to manage them"
George is attracting headlines at the present time through his goal at Fulham last weekend, a strike which followed his maiden senior strike in the Conference League quarter-final versus Legia Warsaw.
When commenting on his development, Maresca said: "We are excited, but we need to manage them because they can be too easily excited and can be too easily down.
"Him and Josh Acheampong, both at the beginning of the season were looking for different solutions but they started the pre-season with us and we saw they can be good for us, so we decided to keep them."
Maresca also revealed that George would have likely have missed out on a place in the squad against Fulham had he not opted to drop Christopher Nkunku instead.
Talking on Nkunku's status for the Everton game on Saturday, the Italian added: "He is in the squad, yes. He has been good in the last week when he was out.
"We need to decide one or two players out and to give some of the young players a chance to be with us. It was just because of that but now he is back in the squad.
"He is training well. Probably in this moment, if he is in the squad, one offensive player has to be out for the Fulham game and that probably would have been Tyrique.
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Acheampong, George game time
Earlier in the campaign, reports emerged that Acheampong could be sold after initially failing to agree a new long-term contract, but he is now on a deal until 2029.
The 18-year-old has accumulated 601 minutes across 10 appearances in all competitions during 2024-25, half of those outings coming in the Conference League.
Meanwhile, George has two goals and four assists from 20 outings, featuring for a total of 843 minutes in his first season in the senior ranks.
Darren Plant
