MX23RW : Thursday, November 7 14:33:40| >> :60:147:147:

England reap rewards of Chelsea's increasing reliance on homegrown players

The amount of minutes afforded to English players across the Premier League has increased this season.

Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori's England call-ups serve as reward for Chelsea's faith in young homegrown players this season.

Abraham is the Premier League's leading English goalscorer with seven, one behind Golden Boot pace-setter Sergio Aguero of Manchester City, while Tomori has been a regular in the Blues' defence.

As the pair join club-mates Mason Mount and Ross Barkley in Gareth Southgate's squad, the PA news agency looks at the increased influence of English players at Stamford Bridge and across the top flight.

All change at Chelsea

Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount, l-r
Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount, l-r, celebrate after they all scored in Chelsea's win over Wolves (Nick Potts/PA)

Last season, Chelsea gave the second-lowest percentage of playing time to players eligible for England of any Premier League club.

At 7.1 per cent, they were ahead of only Arsenal (6.0) – with Newcastle the next lowest at a distant 17.4 per cent.

That has all changed this season, with the club's transfer embargo a factor as new manager Frank Lampard looks closer to home.

Chelsea have already given 1,797 minutes of playing time to players eligible for England – it took them 32 games to reach that mark last season.

That is still the fifth-lowest mark in the Premier League, but marks a huge leap to 25.9 per cent of the club's total playing time.

Abraham (seven), Mount (three) and Tomori also accounted for the club's first 11 league goals this season, before N'Golo Kante ended that sequence in their defeat to Liverpool.

League-wide trend 'shifts dial' for England

Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate has welcomed even a small increase in the percentage of English players in the Premier League (Mark Kerton/PA)

Across the Premier League as a whole, English players have accounted for 34.3 per cent of playing time this season – a slight increase on last season's final total of 30.7 percent.

Southgate said at Thursday's press conference to announce this month's squad: "I've sat here for a couple of years and talked about opportunities for young English players.

"Percentage-wise it might be only a small shift this year, but that relates to three or four players and we know those players from junior teams.

"You don't have to shift that dial too much to affect what's possible for us as a national team."

English is the most-represented nationality for every club bar one, with only Wolves' extensive Portuguese contingent bucking the trend.

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves are the only team in which England is not the most-represented nation (Daniel Hambury/PA)

The Molineux club's 16.1 per cent of playing time given to England-qualified players is also the lowest in the league, with Arsenal (18.7) and Manchester City (19.0) the only other clubs below 20 per cent.

Burnley lead the league with 75.9 per cent, 5,261 minutes out of 6,930, with only six non-English players featuring in Sean Dyche's line-up this season and a seventh, Kevin Long, an unused substitute.

Sheffield United are at an even 50 per cent with five other clubs – Bournemouth, Brighton, Manchester United, Southampton and Watford – cracking the 40 per cent mark.

Leicester and West Ham, both flying high in the Premier League's top five, have done so with England-eligible players accounting for 35.4 and 32.0 per cent of their respective playing time.

ID:373812: cacheID:373812:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9170:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chelsea's Tammy Abraham celebrates scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on September 14, 2019.
Read Next:
Tammy Abraham heading for England call-up
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!