"My word, he is good," said a rather giddy Thierry Henry back in 2017. "Ooh la la. l really like watching him play. When you have a kid with that much talent, what are you going to teach him?"
The kid in question was Kylian Mbappe, then just 18 years old but already one of Europe's most devastating forwards. His debut campaign in the Monaco first team ended with 26 goals. Ahead of his second, he departed for Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth £166million.
Mbappe was a readymade star. A player of such talent, maturity and confidence that he was a global phenom fresh out of the box. That, quite simply, is not normal.
The same can be said for Erling Haaland. "The kid is an absolute goal-scoring machine," exclaimed former Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves last year. The former England international was not wrong. In 81 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, the 21-year-old has struck 80 times in 81 matches.
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Mbappe and Haaland are the heirs apparent to the throne contested for by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for more than a decade. The Portuguese superstar has even hinted as much. "It is hard to choose just one player to say this one will be the best, but I think it is exciting to see this new generation of young players, like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe," he said earlier this year.
Chelsea do not possess an astounding young star in the mould of Mbappe and Haaland, but the Blues do have a handful of players who can blossom into decisive figures at the very top level. Kai Havertz, still only 22 years old, has thrived in recent weeks and, of course, has a Champions League final winner to his name. Mason Mount (23) assisted that goal and is Chelsea's reigning Player of the Year. And Reece James (22) starred in that final against Manchester City and has gone up a level or two this term.
Then there is 23-year-old Christian Pulisic, who has come back into form over the past month and very much has his best years ahead of him. Each one of that quartet now has at least a full season's experience in the Chelsea first-team under their belts. There have been great highs along the way but also lows that have proved to be important learning experiences.
And that brings us to Trevoh Chalobah, the breakout star of Chelsea's season. Rewind to the start of last summer and the versatile defender was expected to be sent out on loan. But he proved himself to Thomas Tuchel in pre-season and the German handed Chalobah a spot in the Blues' squad after a commanding display in the UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal.
"My life has changed," Chalobah told football.london last month. "I am still pinching myself to this day. Every game and every training session are proud moments."
Throughout the first half of the season, Chalobah was dropped into the Chelsea starting XI by Tuchel and always delivered. Be it on the right of the back three or in the centre, he was composed and confident. The 22-year-old delivered in a big way. In December, however, he sustained a minor knock and then pushed himself to breaking point in January; Chalobah suffered a hamstring injury and missed almost a month of football.
Since returning, the academy graduate has made six appearances across all competitions. In those, errors have crept into his game. There was a penalty conceded against Norwich City for handball and a foul on Jacob Murphy in the win over Newcastle United that fortunately didn't result in a spot-kick.
But here's the reality: mistakes are made by every player – and especially a young defender in their first season at the very top level. The important thing is these are learned from and not repeated. Chalobah has already displayed in his fledgling Chelsea career he has the capability to do that.
That is the normal development path, the tried and trusted way to make it at the top level and then thrive. Anyone who says otherwise has succumbed to the myth that Mbappe and Haaland's brilliance has created.
