Conor Gallagher has praised the work of Neil Bath and Jim Fraser after their shock departures from Chelsea on Wednesday.
With the club undergoing a restructuring, it was announced by Chelsea that Bath and Fraser would be leaving their roles at the club.
Bath has held multiple posts at Chelsea having first joined in 1993 but was renowned for his work with the academy, turning it into one of the best in Europe whereas Fraser had worked as his deputy and as scout.
Gallagher is one of many success stories from the Chelsea academy, coming up through the ranks and going on to become the club’s de facto captain last season.
The 24-year-old admitted he owes much of his career to Bath and Fraser for giving him the help necessary to thrive at youth level.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Gallagher said: “I honestly can not speak highly enough of Neil Bath and Jim Fraser. I’ve not messaged them yet because I’ve only just found out.
“What they’ve done for Chelsea’s academy is mindblowing. We’ve been the best academy over the last 15 years.
“What trophies we’ve won and players we’ve produced and that is a lot of credit to them two guys.
“I need to give them a message later because what they’ve done for me personally is amazing and I have to thank them.”
Since Clearlake Capital arrived at Chelsea in 2022, there have been sweeping changes to the staff behind the scenes.
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Bath and Fraser had been earmarked by the American firm to lead the academy into a new era, under the project name Vision 2030, and seen as essential to the club’s operations.
However, under a new scheme, chief scout Joe Shields now looks to take control of the academy management structure alongside Sam Jewell, who joined from Brighton earlier this year.
Bath and Fraser have been crucial to the Blues over the past two decades and have helped the club produce elite young talents such as Reece James, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham, as well as others who left during their academy days such as Michael Olise, Declan Rice and Jamal Musiala.
Bath was first appointed as academy manager in 2004 while Fraser was hired in 2005 as his assistant before they held a number fo roles within the youth set-up.
During the 2010s, Chelsea’s Under-18s won the FA Youth Cup seven times, including a run of five consecutive tins from 2014 to 2018 while the Under-19s won back-to-back UEFA Youth Leagues in 2015 and 2016.