Mason Mount promised his father he would be a Chelsea regular after his dad pleaded with him to leave the club aged 14.
Before this campaign, the blues had not had an academy graduate become a starter since former England defender John Terry.
Frank Lampard has changed that, in part due to a transfer ban, by bringing Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori into the Chelsea first-team.
The English trio have been the stand-out performers for Chelsea, but Mount revealed he had to resist a push from his father to leave Stamford Bridge when he was 14.
He told the Sun: ‘When I was 14, my dad told me I should leave Chelsea.
‘There are so many good players in the academy and a lot of people were saying not many youngsters ever get to make it here.
‘That was the discussion we had but I told him that I’d be the first graduate to make it since John Terry — because it was always my goal to play for Chelsea and I didn’t want to go anywhere else.
‘I loved the competition and I think the fact that Fik (Tomori) and myself both worked for Frank last season gave us a bit of an advantage for coming into pre-season.
‘Having an English manager who knows all the young English players coming through the academy has given both of us that confidence to go out and perform.’
Mount has played in every Premier League and Champions League match for Chelsea this campaign and has scored four goals.
Manchester United welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup, with Mount expected to play some part in the match.
