Former Arsenal star Paul Merson says Chelsea will be "dominating English football" in two or three years if they can keep their young stars at the club.
The Blues bounced back from successive defeats against Valencia and Liverpool with a 7-1 dismantling of Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup in midweek and a 2-0 win over Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.
Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori have all started the season brightly, and Merson believes that if the team can shore up the defence, they will finish in the top four this season.
"It's very rare that the bar gets heightened when you get beat," Merson said on Soccer Saturday.
"But I think everybody went away from the [Liverpool loss] after and thought 'you know what, we've got a bright future here'.
"If you go through some of the players, you don't know if this has been a plan or they've just fallen over it, but you've got to give credit to Frank Lampard.
"If they don’t have the transfer embargo and Frank Lampard isn't the manager these young kids are all out on loan, they're all out on loan.
"And now they're all in and they're all their best players.
"I go through the Chelsea squad now and in two or three years this team will be dominating English football, dominating English football.
"If they all stay together, they've got so much talent in that club at the moment and they’re all youngsters.
"I think it’s a bright future for Chelsea, I see them getting in the top four, I really do, I think they can get in the top four.
"They just have to tighten up at the back, I think there’s only two teams that have let in more goals than them which is worrying.
"But that will come and I think there is a bright future for Chelsea and it's all coming together."
