I think people get too obsessed with the idea of bringing through local young players. It’s nice, and i’d be for the gradual introduction of quotas, even if it just started one a club and went up incrementally, but football fans only identify with academy graduates in extreme circumstances, or when they’ve not got the quality of senior player needed to win big trophies. At City for instance, none of the players the fans have really taken to (Zabaleta, Kompany, Silva, Aguero) have been locals, and it’s probably similar at Chelsea.
The reason Chelsea are so impressive is because they’ve clearly got a long term business plan but unlike at other clubs they tend not to really take their eye off the ball on the pitch, or when they do they knock it down pretty quickly and move on, and even rack up trophies mid-upheavel.
Let’s not kid ourselves, the only reason the likes of Kelechi, Rashford, Holding, etc, get games is because these clubs are underperforming. I can see why Chelsea don’t blood youth players…but maybe this summer might be the time to introduce one or two, who knows. Ake, for instance, is good enough now.
