Maurizio Sarri's reluctance to give Callum Hudson-Odoi regular Premier League minutes left Chelsea's first-team stars scratching their heads.
Despite being only 18 years old, the player was lauded by ex- Chelsea stopper Rob Green as "consistently the best in training".
But former Blues boss Sarri handed Hudson-Odoi just 10 appearances in the league last season, with six of those coming off the bench.
The youngster has been injured for much of this season so far, but has already played in almost a third the amount of minutes under new boss Frank Lampard as he did last campaign.
Green told Radio 5 Live : "We were in the dressing room last season and the players were saying 'how is he not playing?'
“He was going out in training and tearing some of the best defenders in the world apart. He was consistently the best in training.
“It was to the point where some of the best players in the world were standing there applauding what he was doing.”
Hudson-Odoi almost joined Bayern Munich in January after the German champions lodged a £30 million bid for his services, with the winger then handing in a transfer request.
Chelsea rejected the offer, and have since tied him down to a new five-year, £120,000-a-week contract.
He made a scoring return to the first-team after injury in the 7-1 drubbing of Grimsby in the Carabao Cup at the end of last month, before appearances in the wins against Brighton , Lille and Southampton .
Green added: "He has got such a brilliant mind and he is so confident. When he goes out there he will try things and he will try it on the biggest stage.
“He will do something and you will ask him: 'When have you done that? Why did you do that?'
“He would say 'because I've never done it before and I thought I'd try it.'
“You knew from the way he spoke and the way he is around the lads, the way he holds himself and obviously his ability, he is going to be at Chelsea for as long as he wants to be and then, maybe, on to greater things.”
