Conte said he was happy to hear about Nathaniel Chalobah’s call-up for England but insisted that the youngsters who left the Blues this summer were not ready yet to play at Stamford Bridge.
Chalobah, who joined Watford in July was called up by Gareth Southgate along with Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford for the World Cup Qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia.
But when questioned on his attitude towards youth development, Conte insisted that he has no problem with putting his faith in youngsters if they prove themselves ready to play for Chelsea.
“I’m very happy for him,” he said of Chalobah. “Very happy. He worked a lot and very hard last season, and I wish him the best.
“Sometimes there are football dynamics outside that you can’t see. Sometimes you can’t understand. I have to understand.
“Last season Chalobah played some games, Loftus-Cheek played some games, Ake played the semi final of the FA Cup, Aina in the League Cup and Kenedy, too.
“If young players stay and play regularly with Chelsea, the question is this: Manchester City and other clubs, are there players from the academy playing regularly? I don’t know.
“If there are young players who deserve to play regularly and give me a good feeling, then why not? I put [Paul] Pogba at 18 into the team [at Juventus], for [Claudio] Marchisio. Not a simple player [to replace].
But you must have this type of possibilities, players who are ready to play regularly with Chelsea, a great team. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to make this decision.
“You must decide if you want to fight for the title or develop your young players. Two different ways.”
Asked if it is possible to develop young players while competing for major trophies, Conte replied: “If the young players are ready and are strong enough to play regularly. Pogba, I repeat, played at 18 for me. Why not this?
“Show me young players who deserve to play regularly for Chelsea, and I’m ready to pick them. Don’t forget my first game in Serie A, I was only 16. 16. I’m the first person open to do this because another coach did this with me. But, I repeat, you must have the possibilities to do this. Not to invent [them].
“[Marcus] Rashford. That’s one player now who has shown he is strong physically, fast technically, and a really good player. But it’s not easy.
“Now [Andreas] Christensen, after two seasons on loan to develop himself in Germany, stays with us. He has to fight with [David] Luiz, [Gary] Cahill, Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta], [Antonio] Rudiger to play. But if there is the possibility to play, I’ll put him in.
“I’m the first to be ready to do this. But it’s very important the young players are ready to play. Otherwise, you provoke damage to the players. Also to the club and the team.”
Chelsea let Loftus-Cheek, Zouma, Aina, Palmer, Brown and Tammy Abraham leave on loan. They also sold Nathan Ake to Bournemouth while Solanke joined Liverpool after running down his contract at Chelsea.
The Blues have one of the most successful youth sides in England, earning success on all fronts over the past few years. Yet, these players find it difficult to break into the senior team.
