Ryan Bertrand spent the first half of the 2014/15 season at one of the surprise teams in the Premier League in Southampton. With the transfer window coming to a close, Southampton splashed out £10 million for the youngster to keep him on a permanent basis. In the seven or so years since becoming a senior player Ryan Bertrand only made 56 appearances for Chelsea FC and never became a first team regular. The Blues still made a significant profit from selling him off so does that make Ryan Bertrand a Chelsea FC success story?

Since arriving at St. Mary’s, Ryan Bertrand has partnered with the rest of the Southampton backline to form one of the best defenses in football and he was rewarded for his efforts at the end of the January transfer window. The Saints saw great promise in the young defender and showed their faith in him by making his loan move permanent. So what has he shown at Southampton that he never showed at Chelsea?

Some of the more optimistic supporters will say that he was simply given a chance at Southampton. They say that he has always had it in him to be a great defender in the Premier League but was never given the chance to show it at Chelsea. He was always shunted aside for some fancy new import and the Blues never took him seriously as their future left back. Bertrand was considered by many as the heir apparent to Ashley Cole at the position but that is not how things worked out.

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Instead it was the little known Cesar Azpilicueta, purchased at just £7 million from Marseille, who took over the left flank. Left back is not even Azpilicueta’s natural position but he was one of the best players in the Premier League last season and forced both Bertrand and Cole from the club. In the summer it appeared that Bertrand was done with Chelsea and the Blues went out and bought another foreign player in Filipe Luis to replace him. So yes, it was a foreign player that took Bertrand’s job but if he deserved it the job would have been his.

The more pessimistic supporters will say that Ryan Bertrand is just not good enough for Chelsea. They say it is one thing to play well for a small Premier League but it is another to play for one of the best clubs in the world. Teams do not treat a match against Southampton the way they do against Chelsea and the expectations are astronomically higher at Stamford Bridge. A top four finish is a miracle for the Saints but anything less than a Premier League title is a disappointment for the Blues.

In his half season at Southampton, Ryan Bertrand has put together an excellent sample size of what kind of player he is. The consensus seems to be that he is a very good Premier League defender but would have been just a rotation player at Chelsea.

So in order to answer the question of whether or not Ryan Bertrand is a success story for Chelsea FC then we must define what the club’s goal is. Is it to make sure every young player they buy or promote from the academy is a first team regular, or is it to sell them for a profit to buy even better players? The answer is somewhere in between. Yes the Blues want to promote young players to the first team but they will always prefer the better player no matter where they are from or which academy they grew up in.

Is Ryan Bertrand a success story for the Blues? Yes he most certainly is. In the same way Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata, or David Luiz are success stories. All of these players were purchased, developed either in the first team or on loans, and then sold for tremendous profits. This is Chelsea FC’s new business model so expect many more success stories just like Bertrand’s in the coming years and in the wake of FFP.