Roman Abramovich's dream is to have an English core at Chelsea

Chelsea's reported pursuit of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley is part of a much bigger plan than just adding bodies to Antonio Conte's first-team squad.

That's because the Premier League champions' owner Roman Abramovich has a long-term ambition to change the club's identity by having English players at its core.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Jason Burt looks at how Abramovich, despite never appointing a British manager, wants English players to be the backbone of the squad and also dreams of seeing academy players in the first team.

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Not since John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole were in their prime have Chelsea had such a strong English influence in their first eleven. Looking at Chelsea's current squad list there are more than 12 different nationalities, but only club captain Gary Cahill is English.

So why does this matter to Chelsea and to Abramovich? According to Burt, the answer is simple: the club needs to have a local soul and a local spirit.

On Sunday, the Telegraph reported Conte saying how important it was to have a core of English players.

"To have a core of English players is important," said Conte. "It's something I value."

Conte also said that some of his younger English stars were not yet ready for the Chelsea first team and the club's system of sending them out on loan is the right career pathway.

"Young players must be ready, must be good to play with a great team, to play regularly," said Conte.

"Usually in this type of football, there is a path for the young players. It's very difficult to see players when they are 16, 17, 18 years old playing regularly. And they have to develop and then come back to play regularly with a great team. This is the right way.

"I repeat, I like to work with young players. Last season, if you saw our squad, we had eight players from the academy and we won the League with eight players from the academy, and 14 or 15 senior players."

It's not like the club did not have any English talent within its ranks. But players such as Nathaniel Chalobah at Watford and Liverpool's Dominic Solanke left Stamford Bridge permanently in order to get more first-team action.

Also, three of Chelsea's academy players - Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Lewis Baker and Tammy Abraham - are again out on loan at Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Swansea City respectively. All three are English and have impressed during previous loan spells.

Perhaps the trio of starlets will fit the bill for Abramovich's long-term vision.