In the modern day of football, governing bodies are calling for and urging the Premier League clubs to include more home grown players in their Premier League squad’s.
A survey carried out in the Premier League back in 2013 showed a shockingly low percentage. Around 31% of the players in the Premier League are home grown. This called for extensive debate over the possibly of new rules, a possible cap on the maximum number of foreign players in the team, anything to increase the chances of home grown players being played in the Premier League.
Although Chelsea have been known for being the Premier League’s ‘money bag’s’, over the years Chelsea have been fairly successful when it comes to fielding home grown players, the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Damien Duff all featured heavily in the Abramovich era. With Lampard only leaving last come the end of the last season and John Terry still captaining the club to this day, it stands Chelsea in good shape.
Despite all of the famous names mentioned previously, Chelsea have made numerous big money transfers over the years for foreign players. Some of which may or may not have panned out in the way anyone would have hoped. £50 million for Torres and £30 million for Andriy Shevchenko spring to mind. The after effect of the mass spending has left minimum space for younger academy prospects.
It was recently brought to the action of many Chelsea fan’s that the last player to come through the blue’s academy and make a significant contribution was club captain John Terry. This staggering fact raised many eyebrows. Now at the age of 34, Terry made his debut in way back in 1998.
Premier League teams are famous for fielding weakened teams in cup competitions, for the intention of resting the bigger named players. Due to the size of the Chelsea squad, it is still difficult to include academy players in cup competitions. After Chelsea’s under 21 side successfully won the FA Youth Cup, Mourinho will now have a number of highly talented youngsters knocking on his door. In fact, Mourinho has already handed debuts to the likes of Ruben Loftus Cheek, Nathan Ake and Dominic Solanke, featuring in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
Just a handful of players that all look set for a bright future. However will that bright future be at Chelsea or will it be elsewhere? Since taking over at Chelsea Roman Abramovich has made it clear that he prefers instance success, something he made clear with the number of manager’s he has appointed and sacked so quickly over the years. This is something that may halt the development of young Chelsea players.
Even with the financial fair play restrictions Chelsea have the ability to buy and sell with some of the best players in the world. Which in a footballing world, brings success a lot quicker than waiting years for young players to develop into first team members.
I am hoping to see a slight change thanks to the youth team winning the FA Cup, hopefully it would have caught the eye of senior members around the club. In the January transfer window we have seen Lewis Baker loaned out to Championship side, Sheffield Wednesday and John Swift join League One side, Swindon Town on loan also.
For me this is the first step for young player’s development, it is one thing being successful in youth teams. Being successful in a competitive league like the Championship, is a completely different ball game. The problems seem to stem from when the loan spells ends.
Chelsea are a team that can make massive changes to their squad in the space of a season, for instance, in the 2013-14 season we had Torres, Eto’o and Ba upfront. 2014-15 season, Costa, Drogba and Remy. By the time loan players return they could be almost forgotten about we may have signed one, maybe two established players in their position.
Not only does this make it tough to be physically and technically better than the senior players, it can also take the confidence out of them. The challenge is when we need to make them consistent players and valuable assets to team. Unfortunately I do not see how Chelsea will be able to balance both being competitive at the highest level and bring through some of the best youngsters.
With the latest batch of talented young players we have at the club I am hoping to see that change. It will defiantly benefit the younger player’s development, even the clubs finances. Many of them have bright futures ahead of them I hope as much as every other Chelsea fan to see them fulfill their potential at Stamford Bridge.
