There’s never a dull day as a Chelsea fan and with one win in the last nine games and languishing
in 10th in the Premier League, there isn’t much to smile about.
The arrival of Joao Felix on a six month loan from Atletico Madrid for €11m has done something to
appease the unrest amongst the fan base and amid the very public trials and tribulations of the
Blue’s first team transfer activity, the Enzo Fernandez saga a point in case, the other side of the
two-pronged recruitment strategy seems to be progressing without any drama.
Fast forward five months from a summer transfer window that saw the arrival of Carney
Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Omari Hutchinson and Gabriel Slonina, Chelsea have been busy
in the opening throws of the January window with the signings of forward David Datro Fofana from
Norwegian side Molde and Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos from Vasco Da Gama already
announced.
It is well known that the Stamford Bridge outfit are monitoring another Brazilian starlet Vitor Roque
of Athletico Paranaense and tried to bring in teen sensation Endrick from Palmeiras before he
eventually chose Real Madrid. Arsen Zakharyan the Dynamo Moscow midfielder remains firmly on
the radar with personal terms already agreed but complications with sanctions placed on Russia by
the UK government mean it’s complicated for a deal to be completed.
Over the upcoming transfer windows plenty more young talent from England and abroad will be
targeted.
It’s clear that a lot of these young stars and their advisors are clearly sold on the “project” although
one key aspect is still not in place yet and that concerns what Chelsea are going to do with all
these youngsters as there isn’t space for all of them in the first team set up currently.
Co-owner and Chairman Todd Boehly has made it clear that he wants to operate a multi-club
model like the City Football and Red Bull groups. Boehly outlined the plans back in August when
speaking at the SALT business conference in New York.
He said: “Our goal is to make sure we can show pathways for our young superstars to get onto the
Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time. “To me, the way to do that is through another club somewhere in a really competitive league in Europe.
“What we really need is a place to put our 18, 19, 20-year-olds to develop them, in Portugal,
Belgium, or somewhere like that.”
Boehly made specific reference to the Red Bull groups success with Red Bull Salzburg and RB
Leipzig and Chelsea’s subsequent appointment of Christopher Vivell from Leipzig should be
viewed partly within this context. Chelsea have also hired Laurence Stewart, Paul Winstanley and
Joe Shields to senior positions and it’s no coincidence that they all have previous experience
working within multi-club structures and often with a focus on player development.
The fact that the widely regarded and respected Neil Bath was promoted from academy director to
director of football development and operations again underlines how important the development of
young talent is to Boehly and Clearlake and their long-term model they want to implement. Shield’s
who was recruited from Southampton should also help with this given his extensive background in
youth recruitment at Manchester City.
A multi-club model doesn’t happen overnight and Chelsea have been actively searching for
suitable clubs. Portimonense and Estoril of Portugal’s top flight were given careful consideration
but were deemed unsuitable and Sochaux in France’s second tier were also identified as an option
but no agreement could be reached.
With the arrival of all these talented youngsters there is now a renewed urgency to find a suitable
club. Chukwuemeka has been given first team minutes and was particularly impressive against
Manchester City in the Premier League with Graham Potter also giving a debut to Hutchinson in
that same game whilst regularly naming him in match day squads and although Fofana did make
his debut in the FA Cup defeat at the Etihad it remains to be seen where his immediate future lies.
For the likes of Casadei, Slonina and Santos they need more exposure to senior football to
continue their development.
This approach of signing the best young talent in the world does have some knock on effects with
players currently in Chelsea’s youth and development sides considering if a pathway to the first
team is actually there with this aggressive recruitment drive to build a squad made up mostly of
players under the age of 25.
Ultimately without a partner club in place some of these players will leave on traditional loans whilst
others like Jude Soonsup-Bell will run down their contracts and leave on a free.
Boehly has been clear that he doesn’t want to sell young talent if possible as demonstrated by
tying Armando Broja down to a new six-year contract to repel serious interest from Premier League
sides most notably West Ham United and with Levi Colwill only being allowed to join Brighton on
loan despite them wanting him permanently.
By signing elite young talent Boehly and Clearlake will be hoping it saves them millions of pounds
in the transfer market over the coming years but this strategy will only work if a clear platform can
be established to help keep their development on an upward path.
