As the manager of the world’s richest club, José Mourinho did not attract much sympathy when casting an envious glance at the resources of Newcastle United’s youth academy, but his complaints after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Wycombe Wanderers in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final were rooted in fact.

After bringing on Frank Lampard at Adams Park, Mourinho’s other substitutions introduced two 17-year-olds, Ben Sahar and Scott Sinclair, revealing the chasm that has opened between his elite squad and the rest of the club. With Michael Mancienne, 19, on loan at Queens Park Rangers, there is not one defender at Stamford Bridge able to fill in for John Terry, unless Mourinho was minded to plunder Shaun Gore’s women’s team.

With apologies to Sam Dalla Bonna, Robert Huth and Mikael Forssell, who made some impact after being signed from abroad as schoolboys, Terry is the only significant player to have come through the ranks in the past decade. Just why Chelsea should have fallen so far behind in this regard is a moot point, although many at the club admit that they are playing catchup.

Unlike the inadequacies of his first-team squad, Mourinho cannot be blamed. One of his first acts on taking charge three years ago was to change the club’s youth structure, bringing in a coaching blueprint to be used from the undernine age group through to the first team and making several appointments, promoting Neil Bath to the post of Academy manager and bringing in Brendan Rogers from Swindon Town to run the reserves.

Roman Abramovich has invested more than £30 million, but, controversially, brought in Frank Arnesen as the head of scouting and youth development, against the wishes of Mourinho and Peter Kenyon, the chief executive. Arnesen’s recruitment of Ruud Kaiser, a Dutch coach, as youth team manager last summer has only increased the sense of polarisation.

As with the senior team, there is a sense of Chelsea starting from scratch. Bath accepts Mourinho’s implicit criticisms but holds the previous regime responsible for neglect and lack of investment, leading to a time lag that has yet to be bridged. The likes of Neil Clement, Jon Harley and Jody Morris did come through during that period, without being able to establish themselves at Chelsea.

“In the past the club felt that the players they were producing were not good enough, but the strategy is now very clear,” Bath said. “The long-term plan is for less spending and more focus on youth development, so it’s an exciting time.

“There’s a big leap to make, but we’ve only been going for 2½ years. Most of our players are not ready for first-team football at Chelsea, which is why they go out on loan. It will take time for them to get the experience and confidence that is needed for the first team. We’re playing catchup in a lot of ways.”

Gianluca Vialli’s decision to turn the reserves into a youth team in 1999 did not help matters, although those involved in the Ken Bates era can offer mitigation. Chelsea were squeezed by the double whammy of tightening finances and more restrictive regulation, with first the FA and then Uefa imposing systems of compensation on clubs taking from rival academies.

All the money available was spent on the increasingly successful first team, thus making it even harder for young players to break through. “In the last three years money was really tight,” a source closely involved at the time said. “We were doing really well and chasing bigger players on bigger salaries. If you made one mistake you were in trouble. It became difficult to get good players in, and at the same time harder for them to come through, so it’s a vicious circle.”

Chelsea’s response has been to throw money at the problem, with the £5 million paid to Leeds United in compensation for Michael Woods, 16, capturing the essence of their youth policy. A fee of £3.8 million has been agreed with OFK Belgrade for Slobodan Rajkovic, a 17-year-old centre back, while lesser sums have been paid to a host of English clubs for players as young as 11.

Whether any will grow into Chelsea players is uncertain, particularly within the two-year deadline Arnesen gave himself to deliver a first-team player when he joined the club 18 months ago. As Mourinho would probably delight in telling him, the Dane’s time is running out.

Few kids who managed to find fame

• Players at the big four clubs since 1996-97 who have made their Premiership debuts having been signed before their 18th birthday

  Manchester United, 22
  (total league appearances 520)
  Wes Brown 151 league apps
  J O’Shea 150
  D Fletcher 84
  K Richardson 32
  L Chadwick 25
  R Wallwork 19
  J Curtis 13
  M Clegg 9
  P Bardsley 8
  M Stewart 7
  D Higginbotham 4
  G Pique 3
  J Spector 3
  M Wilson 3
  C Casper 2
  N Culkin 1
  B Djordjic 1
  D Healy 1
  P Mulryne 1
  D Pugh 1
  P Rachubka 1
  L Roche 1

  Arsenal, 19
  (total league appearances 375)
  A Cole 156 league apps
  F Fàbregas 90
  J Djourou 23
  J Aliadière 22
  J Hoyte 20
  S Taylor 18
  T Walcott 13
  J Pennant 12
  Q Owusu-Abeyie 5
  P Vernazza 4
  G Barrett 2
  K Gilbert 2
  D Bentley 1
  T Black 1
  R Garry 1
  J Gray 1
  A Lupoli 1
  B McGovern 1
  I Rankin 1
  R Weston 1

  Chelsea, 16
  (total league appearances 436)
  J Terry 202 league apps
  S Dalla Bonna 55
  R Huth 42
  M Nicholls 36
  M Forssell 33
  J Harley 30
  C Cole 25
  N Crittenden 2
  J Keenan 2
  A Nicolas 2
  L Pidgeley 2
  N Clement 1
  A Grant 1
  J Smith 1
  S Watt 1
  R Wolleaston 1

  Liverpool, 13
  (total league appearances 909)
  J Carragher 311 league apps
  S Gerrard 254
  M Owen 216
  D Thompson 48
  S Warnock 40
  S Wright 14
  N Mellor 12
  J Otsemobor 4
  J Welsh 4
  D Guthrie 2
  D Potter 2
  J Newby 1
  D Raven 1

• The China Olympic football team will hold a two-week training camp at Chelsea’s training ground next month. The visit, which begins on February 1, is the first practical assistance given by Chelsea after a co-operation agreement between the Chinese FA and the club signed last year. As well as hosting China for training, the visit will involve staff giving seminars on technical, coaching and medical issues. Chelsea will also arrange friendly matches for China.