Young Lions cannot risk sitting on the sidelines
hollow recommendations? – and so we should really also be coming at this from another angle. We must instead use this moment to foster a culture where these young players ruthlessly take responsibility for themselves and do not become sidetracked by agents, or even friends and family, pushing them towards clubs where the financial reward bears scant correlation with the playing opportunity.
Rather like the Murray family in tennis, it means following a very simple guiding principle at every fork in the road. Namely, which choice has the best chance of making me better?
In those key developmental years between the ages of around 18 and 25, another basic consideration should be followed. Only be at a club if you are likely to start senior games. And don’t move clubs unless it will increase your opportunity for first-team football.
Be prepared to step down to step up, and also welcome the greater opportunities that might exist in other countries.
Football does not begin and end with the Premier League clubs. Yes, they are here on your doorstep – and potentially are still a huge advantage compared, say, to the local facilities for young players trying to make it in South America or Africa – but it is not the only
They need to follow the example of De Bruyne and seize responsibility for their careers
show in town. And they owe you absolutely nothing.
The most exciting news is that their academies are clearly now delivering a standard of football education that is among the very best in the world.
The Premier League clubs and their players are probably also the biggest inspirations of all behind what are utterly extraordinary levels of participation in football among young boys and girls in this country.
Yet be aware also that competition inside the world’s richest league is utterly global and these clubs, whose managers are under the most extreme pressure for instant results, cannot ever be relied upon to provide the perfect nurturing transition from late teens to senior football. These emerging players should be acutely aware of this and, if they do reach a point in their career when on-field opportunities have disappeared, it is no good finger-pointing.
They need to ignore any temptation of a well-remunerated but peripheral role and, just like De Bruyne and Lukaku, seize responsibility for their own careers. These young players have the talent, evidently. They must now also demonstrate the right priorities in the choices that will inevitably follow.