Fans would love Blues to give babes a chance
CHELSEA are reigning Premier League champions and remain in with a shout of the title this season – but their fans cannot be happy.
It must have hurt them deeply watching England face Germany and Brazil and seeing the thrilling contributions of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke.
Supporters at The Bridge love nothing more than a homegrown player. But, from owner Roman Abramovich and down, that has never been seriously taken into consideration.
The Blues faithful delighted in singing, “John Terry, he’s one of our own” over and over again when their former skipper was at the club.
What true fan, in this day of expensive imports, doesn’t want to see a youngster come through the ranks before embarking on a long career with their club? Of course, Loftus-Cheek, Abraham and Solanke (right) won’t feature for Chelsea at West Brom tomorrow.
Loftus-Cheek, who joined Chelsea aged EIGHT, is on loan at Crystal Palace. Academy graduate Abraham has been farmed out for the year to Swansea.
It is even worse with Solanke. He started out playing for the Blues’ Under-8s and proved a sensational striker for the youth team, scoring two late goals when they won the 2014 FA Youth Cup Final.
Former boss Jose Mourinho banged on about him but never gave him any sort of real chance. He was loaned to Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in August 2015 and then, of course, joined
Liverpool this summer when his contract ran out. Chelsea might pocket compensation for losing him, but Blues fans should be demanding answers as to how all of this was allowed to happen. A succession of managers, all of them from overseas, have come and gone, but none of them have seemed to grasp the huge importance of promoting home-grown player. It is about romance. There is something beautiful about seeing a youngster rise through the ranks to make it with the seniors. Be honest Chelsea fans, who would you rather see in Antonio Conte’s squad right now? Michy Batshuayi or Solanke or Abraham? Danny Drinkwater or Loftus-Cheek?
It may have just been a coincidence that technical director Michael Emenalo parted company with the club just as the trio of stars were about to make their name with England. Maybe not.
And here’s a prediction – Chelsea’s striker embarrassment is set to grow.
Eddie Nketiah, the teenage rookie striker they let go to Arsenal, looks the real deal and an England star of the future.
Finally on the subject of Loftus-Cheek, it’ll be interesting to hear today how Palace boss Roy Hodgson feels about Gareth Southgate’s handling of the fragile midfielder. Having played 90 minutes against Germany last Friday, Southgate picked the 21-year-old to face Brazil on Tuesday and he lasted just 25 minutes due to a back injury, an area where the Three Lions boss revealed he has regularly suffered. The game made it five starts in three weeks for Loftus-Cheek. The midfielder had previously started no more than three games in a calendar month, since he first played for Chelsea in @dailystar.co.uk December 2014. He has had just 12 league starts in that time. My guess is former England chief Hodgson won’t be best pleased if Loftus-Cheek misses rock-bottom Palace’s home clash with fellow strugglers Everton tomorrow.