5 former Chelsea academy players who probably wish they could've played under Frank Lampard

#5 Lewis Baker

Lewis Baker remains a Chelsea player, but it seems doubtful that he'll ever break into their first team now

Creative midfielder Lewis Baker actually remains on Chelsea’s books as of the time of writing, and thus he still technically has the opportunity to break into the first team at the Blues. But at the age of 24 and with the likes of Mason Mount and Ross Barkley ahead of him in the queue for a first team spot, it seems more likely that the future of his career lies elsewhere – and that’s honestly disappointing.

Baker joined Chelsea in 2005 at the age of 9, and then progressed through the club’s youth ranks before making his first-team debut in January 2014 in an FA Cup tie against Derby County. It was shortly after that when Jose Mourinho made the aforementioned quote that he would “blame himself” if Baker, along with Dominic Solanke and Izzy Brown, did not make the England senior team.

Baker did not make a single first-team appearance in the first half of 2014/15 despite being part of the senior squad. It thus came as no surprise when he was sent on his first loan midway through that season, moving to Sheffield Wednesday and then MK Dons, where he played alongside Dele Alli in midfield and helped the club to promotion to the Championship.

2015/16 saw him move to Dutch side Vitesse in order to gain experience in a top division, and he would stay with the Eredivisie club for two seasons, making a total of 73 appearances and scoring 20 goals. His form there was so good – he scored the club’s Goal of the Season in his first year – that it seemed inconceivable that he’d fail to go onto stardom with Chelsea.

Unfortunately, since then things haven’t gone Baker’s way at all. Despite rumours that Antonio Conte was looking to convert him into a full-back for the 2017/18 season, he was instead sent on loan to Middlesbrough, a move that turned into a disaster when manager Garry Monk – who clearly rated him highly – was sacked and replaced by Tony Pulis, who essentially froze him out of the team.

Another loan in 2018/19 – this time to Leeds United – didn’t go well either and while Baker performed well at QPR in the second half of that season, it wasn’t enough to convince Frank Lampard to keep him at Chelsea and he’s currently on loan at Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf, who have an option to sign him on a permanent basis should they wish to.

It’s hard to work out where it’s gone awry for Baker, who is a hugely talented player with a tremendous passing range, delivery and vision from midfield. The most likely explanation is that he simply wasn’t afforded enough first-team experience in England in his early career to get used to the style of play.

Hopefully his current move abroad will work out for him – but it must be hard for him to see the success that the likes of Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi are having without wishing Lampard had arrived at Chelsea a couple of seasons earlier.