Michael Emenalo never tired of defending Chelsea's academy. Not that owner Roman Abramovich ever needed much convincing, but the doubts and the pressure did not always come from the outside.

Abramovich, Emenalo is sure, will be delighting in Frank Lampard's youth revolution with Chelsea sitting fifth in the Premier League and the team full of academy graduates playing the domineering style of football the Russian billionaire favours.

Three of those graduates, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, are in Gareth Southgate's latest England squad. And that number could rise to at least five before next summer's European Championships with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek returning to fitness.

But, in his first extended interview since leaving Chelsea in November 2017, former technical director Emenalo has revealed how Abramovich refused to abandon the academy while some were questioning whether or not it would ever pay off.

During his 10 years at the club, which took in the 2012 Champions League success and three Premier League title wins, Emanalo's most important piece of work may have been to argue why one former manager was wrong to suggest Abramovich should scale back his investment in the academy.