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da premier bet： For Chelsea’s academy, and for the highly paid work of Frank Arnesen, this season is an important one. Roman Abramovich’s arrival brought a spending spree and transfer policy never previously seen on these shores. Success was an immediate requirement, and as a result, big fees were spent on players at their peak in the hope that they would instantly deliver trophies.
The array of senior figures at Stamford Bridge over the Abramovich era – Peter Kenyon, Frank Arnesen, Bruce Buck, Ron Gourlay, Eugene Tenenbaum, you could go on and on – have always maintained that the building of the club and brand is of upmost importance. There has also been constant insistence on the need to become self-sufficient and not have to rely on their oligarch’s earnings.
Off the pitch, this means replacing brands and sponsors to major, world-renowned companies: Umbro out, Adidas in. I’m sorry, Autoglass did you say? Not anymore, a national glass repair company can go and fix some cracks, massive conglomerate Samsung are much more our cup of tea.
On the pitch, it means placing faith in youth, and the nurturing of players, rather than having to pay big money for them later in their careers. Chelsea’s academy has been invested in heavily, and Arnesen – Sporting Director and Director of Youth Development to give him his full title – has sent his scouts far and wide to try and prize the world’s young talent to move to West London.
Up until now there has been very little dividends paid out by the heavily invested academy. Not since John Terry has a player risen from the club’s youth system to establish themselves as a first team regular. But with the league’s new 25 man quota, Chelsea and Carlo Ancelotti have declared that should the squad begin to stretch, it is these youth players that will take the strain.
Among the crop, Gael Kakuta, Jeffrey Bruma, Fabio Borini and Patrick Van Aanholt are at the top of the pile. There are others, who the club will also hope to promote, such as Michael Mancienne and Nemanja Matic who are currently out on loan, but the first four are the most likely to get games. It has been seven years since Abramovich arrived in Chelsea and five years since Arnesen arrived. The combination of the two has yet to yield any valuable assets, and Chelsea have continued to have to go for older, more experienced players.
Never one to keep an opinion to himself, Jose Mourinho even went as far as to blame Arnesen for the club’s lack of talent emerging from the academy’s production line. Certainly, Mourinho never had youth players that he could call upon who were of a standard that he could rely on. But Ancelotti may have a selection that is of greater quantity, and more importantly, quality.
Arnesen has the skill and nous to unearth talent, his time at PSV is testament to that. Ronaldo, Jaap Stam, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben are all pupils of his schooling, and it is this track record that made Chelsea part with a rumoured £8m to bring Arnesen to the club from Tottenham. For whatever reason (maybe it is as simple a reason as time) not a single player, let alone a conveyor belt of talent has yet to materialise, and any work that Arnesen has done is yet to bear fruit.
Chelsea may not have a philosophy of blooding or buying youngsters in the way that Arsenal do – few clubs do – but if there were players who were good enough, then previous managers would have played them. It is every manager’s dream to have young players banging their metaphorical fist on the door, with unbelievable performances that can’t be ignored.
Some of Chelsea’s batch, now that there has been an element of hype around them, must make the grade. Everyone at the club, from Roman himself, right down to the single fan, is yearning for an academy player to force himself into recognition. Chelsea are in a position, in terms of the squad they have, to give younger players an opportunity; if they do not seize this chance, then Arnesen’s efforts will have shown for nothing.
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