In an interview for the official Chelsea matchday programme, the 22-year-old old reflected on his first senior campaign with the Blues and his path to success via the Academy and his loan spells.

How do you reflect on what was a breakthrough season for you?

It’s something I’ve dreamt of and living it is unbelievable. I played a lot of games as well, which wasn’t as expected at the start of the season, and I gained a lot of experience. I’m still learning, still trying to grow and progress, but it has been unbelievable.

It’s been special to play big games at Stamford Bridge, where I used to play in Youth Cup ties; playing there in the Champions League, scoring in the Champions League. I’ve chipped in with a few goals as well, which I didn’t think I would this season. It was my highest goalscoring season so far, as a defender, so that is a good feeling.

What do you put the goals tally down to, our set-piece work?

I think so, but I’ve always chipped in with a couple of goals in previous seasons. This season has just been the highest-scoring one, and it’s been the right time to get the goals. It’s been good!

You’ve got four goals and they have come at big moments too. What have been the highlights for you?

I’d say my first goal (against Crystal Palace) was big, but I think I’ll go with the one in the Champions League against Juventus, because we all wanted to rectify the loss that we had playing away to them. So we were all pumped for that game and we knew that if we won it we would progress.

So my first goal, against Palace on the opening weekend of the season, was the most memorable one, but the most important one was the Juve goal.

Chelsea have fielded an Academy graduate in the starting XI in 180 of our last 181 matches. How proud are you to be part of the generation that has made that breakthrough?

Very, very proud. Being on loan and watching the lads, like Mason Mount, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori all coming through, I was very pleased for them. That’s what has helped and motivated me to get here today and it has been unbelievable for the last two or three years to see the number of Academy players that all played together and reached the first team.

We want to keep that going and set an example for other Academy players coming up, to give them the hope as well.

You mentioned playing at Stamford Bridge in the FA Youth Cup. How much did that sort of thing help to spur you on to make it to the first team here?

Experiences like that, as an Academy player, are exactly what you want to get a taste of it, and that’s what it did for us when we played in the stadium in front of a bit of a crowd. The Youth Cup and those sorts of tournaments helped to get us ready for the first team and to get used to the surroundings.

England manager Gareth Southgate described our Academy as a “brilliantly run operation” when explaining how well Conor Gallagher had settled in to the national team recently. What do Neil Bath and the rest of the staff do so well to prepare you for elite football?

There’s a lot of things. When we were young, we used to go to a lot of tournaments abroad to play against the best teams internationally. I think that really helped, when you were away from your family and away with the boys for a week or so, because when you go on international duty, you travel a lot. So I think it starts with things like that. We’re not always going to be just playing in our own country, we’re going to be playing against other European teams, and they prepare you for that.

The loan system is another part of that process, isn’t it?

I think it’s very needed for a player – I don’t regret any of the loans I went on and they all helped me. Every player is different – some players may need two or three loans, some may need one, some may need none – but it’s very important to get experience of men’s football so you can transition from Academy football to the first team. It’s so much different and you need that exposure to the men’s game, which I had for three years before this season.

I had different types of loan as well – two in the Championship (at Ipswich and Huddersfield) and one abroad (at French side Lorient), which I think is a good one. I recommend going abroad, trying something new and learning another language. It helps you interact with the other players, not just in football but outside of football too, living the way of life somewhere different. Those experiences helped me get to where I am today and to go on and play for Chelsea.