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By KIERAN GILL Published: 04: 00 AEDT, 21 November 2024 | Updated: 04: 02 AEDT, 21 November 2024 2 View comments Alfie Gilchrist chuckles as he is told about the phone call which came two weeks prior to our interview, when the morning nursery run was not interrupted by a pesky PPI sales pitch but rather a pleasant JT one. Safe to say, John Terry is a fan of Gilchrist, with the Chelsea legend and Cobham coach hyping up the 20-year-old defender on loan with Championship high-fliers Sheffield United in whom he says he has seen himself. Endorsements hardly come higher than that from Terry, who kindly called after Mail Sport had asked the academy advisor for insight into one of Chelsea’s most promising prospects. Flattered as he is that his ‘idol’ should vouch for his potential so passionately, Gilchrist knows he has a long way to go to fulfil it, with him now grafting in the fine footballing city of Sheffield. Interest was shown by other clubs in the Championship in the summer, as well as Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A. The latter would have been a particularly intriguing proposition for his development as a league which celebrates the art of defending. But Gilchrist, a right back and centre back, only ever had eyes for Bramall Lane as he explains here in his first major interview. ‘As soon as I heard about Sheffield United, that’s all I was interested in, I wanted to get here as soon as possible, ’ Gilchrist says. ‘I’d been here last season when I was on the bench (in a 2-2 draw). I saw the atmosphere and thought this was somewhere I’d like to play. Alfie Gilchrist has risen through the Chelsea ranks but he's looking to prove himself on loan The Cobham prospect has been closely mentored by his boyhood idol and Chelsea defensive legend John Terry  Now plying his trade at Sheffield United Gilchrist described his move as 'a perfect opportunity' ‘I watched them when they were in the Premier League - after being promoted under Chris Wilder in 2019 - and I really liked the way they played when they had overlapping centre backs. I spoke to the manager, and it was a perfect opportunity for me to show what I can do. ‘It was just the next step for me, you know? There was a big squad at Chelsea, I wanted to play this season, and this is what I needed to do for myself. So far, it’s worked out to be the right decision. ’ Gilchrist joined Chelsea at Under 11 level from QPR so it was half a lifetime ago, literally, that he last wore another club’s jersey. But his passion suits the red and white of United and he is grateful that Sheffield is starting to feel like a home from home, with Wilder adding what he describes as the ‘nice touch’ of a personal tour of Bramall Lane on the day he arrived. A hectic day that was, too. Gilchrist was checked over at the Canon Medical Arena, placed pen on paper at the Blades’ training complex, pitted for lunch at the Piccolino Italian restaurant, then went apartment hunting, because it is much better being all-in than residing in the Radisson, as nice as that hotel is overlooking the Sheffield Town Hall. There is no coddling of Gilchrist from Wilder, mind, even if he is a loanee aged 20 in a new city. ‘Definitely not, ’ he says. ‘Everyone is the same, one of his players. You soon realise the importance of every game to the club and to the fans, especially here in Sheffield. ’ Not least in their last outing, a 1-0 Steel City derby day victory over Sheffield Wednesday in which he started at right back. ‘That was big, ’ he continues. ‘I had people coming up to me in the street or when I was doing my shopping, saying, “You know this is a big game? You have to do this. You have to do that”. You could feel it, the atmosphere rising towards that game. It was a special day. ’ Gilchrist watches Chelsea whenever his schedule permits, though that will not be possible this Saturday as their 12. 30pm kick-off in Coventry clashes with his parent club’s trip to Leicester. There will be coaches poring over his performance back at Cobham, however, as the Blues remains in regular contact with Gilchrist - and their other loanees from Burnley’s Bashir Humphreys to Strasbourg’s Andrey Santos - via the loan department headed up by former goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. Gilchrist joined Chelsea at Under 11 level from QPR (pictured in 2021) but has been a lifelong Blues fan from a Chelsea-supporting family The defender broke through to the first team last term under then-coach Mauricio Pochettino  Club hierarchy are keeping a close eye on their loanee alongside other loan stars including Bashir Humphreys (centre) and Andrey Santos (right) Reece James and Levi Colwill likewise dived into season-long loans to the Championship with Wigan and Huddersfield at the respective beginnings of their blossoming careers. Today, they are Chelsea first-teamers, stars of Stamford Bridge, one the club captain, the other their best centre back. So much for Chelsea taking no notice of Cobham, as Gilchrist responds to that outside criticism from rivals: ‘You can see there’s a pathway for the academy players because they’re doing it now. You can name off the players that have come out of Chelsea’s academy - not just playing for Chelsea, but elsewhere as well. Everyone knows what a good place it is there. ’ Supporters at Stamford Bridge remember Gilchrist’s debut last season, even if it came as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2-1 Premier League win over Crystal Palace. His first contribution was a bone-crunching challenge on Jeffrey Schlupp, followed by an attempt at blocking the clearance with his head, a la Terry. They have also not forgotten his first strike which completed the 6-0 victory over Everton, no player ever celebrating a sixth goal as euphorically as Gilchrist did that day. The same cannot be said for the starlet himself as he confesses of his right-footed blast beyond Jordan Pickford: ‘I cannot even remember what happened after that. The emotions took over. The excitement. It’s something that fans like. I was one of those fans as well. ’ That is true, as Gilchrist hails from a family of Blues and grew up going to games, sitting in Stamford Bridge’s East Stand. Given Terry was his idol, is it not strange having the Chelsea captain, leader, legend now as a mentor? Gilchrist was so overcome with the excitement at scoring against Everton that his celebration felt like a blur of emotion ‘It was weird the first few times, yeah, surreal, but you get used to it, ’ he says of their one-on-one meetings and pep talks. ‘You have a connection, a relationship, you can speak openly. He’s good for me. He had the top career and did it for a long time. ‘I feel like I’m progressing with every game. I’m happy here. Promotion is the aim for us and then next season, we’ll see what happens. ’ Literally from the first training session in which I saw him, he reminded me of myself. He was keen to learn, asking me questions about defending and constantly picking my brains over what I would do in different situations. And he’s 100 per cent in everything he does. Whether that’s the warm-up to get him going, he’s all-in. You don’t ever want to take that away. Even on his recovery days, he’s 100 miles per hour. As he gets older, he’ll understand how to manage that and how to be. But it’s a great trait to have for a young player and it can certainly set you apart. If you’re at Chelsea, you’ve got great ability in the first place to be there. But it’s really important for younger players to have that mentality and Alfie had that in abundance even from an early age. Even when I was having conversations with Alfie, he’d just broken into the Under 21s, which was great, but he had targets he wanted to hit – clean sheet target, goal target, and he wanted to make his debut for the first team. He said: ‘I’m looking for my next steps, JT. After that, I really want to get out on loan. ’ That was music to my ears. Alfie was very keen to get out and into a dressing room with grown men. Terry has been excited by the player's willingness to learn and his desire to give 100 percent I see him as a centre back but he looks very comfortable at right back playing in the Championship. Even at times for the Under 21s, he stepped into midfield and played that holding role. Being very comfortable on the ball is the way in modern-day football and he’s got that. That’s going to serve him well moving forward and the higher he goes in the game. Hopefully, he comes back to Chelsea and breaks through into our team. When you see the journeys of these young players, and you play a small part in helping them, it’s really rewarding for me, being Chelsea through and through. I love it. Alfie and all of his family are Chelsea, too, so I know deep down he wants to come back and break through. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group