Mauricio Pochettino’s new four-man Chelsea spirit after £214m transfer conclusion
Mauricio Pochettino has always valued homegrown talent at his previous employers, and he intends to do the same at Chelsea. At Cobham, he has one of the finest access points to youth, and they are already slated to play a significant role under his leadership.
Between 2014 and 2019, his Tottenham squad was constructed around Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Tom Carroll, and most notably Harry Kane. “The Under-17s, Under-19s, and Under-21s make me believe in English talent even more, and everyone realizes, ‘Oh, our boys have good talent,'” he explained in 2017.
Many of the players he gave their debuts at Southampton and Spurs went on to achieve international recognition, including Adam Lallana, Ricky Lambert, and Luke Shaw. In recent years, Chelsea’s youth academy has produced comparable talent.
Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, Billy Gilmour, Conor Gallagher, and Calum Hudson-Odoi have all represented their countries since the beginning of 2019. Prior to Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s debut in 2018, it had been six years, since 2012, since the club had produced a new England or Scotland international.
Although not all of these players remained at Chelsea, the nucleus of the team was built around their talent, and they were given ample opportunities, similar to Pochettino’s description. Even as recently as last week, Frank Lampard invited the club’s Under-14 captain to train with the first team.
Pochettino added at the time, “Of course, we can build a very good core of English players with our identity, players coming from outside England, and English players coming from different clubs.” This is an intriguing challenge and philosophy for us to construct.
After losing confidence in recent years that there is a genuine route to the first team, there is a path to rebuild at Chelsea. Marc Guehi and Tino Livramento seamlessly transitioned to Premier League clubs Southampton and Crystal Palace, where they have excelled. The true meritocracy for youth players has been questioned because underachieving stars have been given more opportunities than those from within.
It is one of the many challenges Pochettino will face at Chelsea, but he is willing to accept it. According to the Evening Standard, he is already formulating plans for the newest generation of English players to form the club’s nucleus, with Gallagher and Levi Colwill at the center of the scheme.
The issue that could grate from within Chelsea is that academy players and homegrown talent are viewed as the finest source of sellable assets due to their higher profit margins and lower salaries. Due to their prominence in the club, Gallagher, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Trevoh Chalobah have all been linked with moves away. It is simpler to sell them than, for instance, to justify Hakim Ziyech’s position.
Pochettino will not only be able to work with the next generation of players coming up at Cobham, players that few have heard of, but he will also have an instantaneous impact on the futures of those already in the squad. Gallagher, for instance, could garner £40 million, and there is demand at that price. According to Transfermarkt, Hudson-Odoi has a career high value of £30 million, and a £70 million proposal for him was rejected in 2019.
Mount has a £60 million price tag hovering over his head heading into a crucial summer in which he will either sign a new contract or leave the club.
The advent of Pochettino only strengthens Chelsea’s resolve to retain him.
Colwill is admired by some of Europe’s finest teams, but his boyhood club has already incorporated him into their plans for the upcoming season.
He is already among the top-rated defenders in his age cohort and has an online valuation of £14 million, but Chelsea would require an offer in excess of twice that amount to even consider discussing his departure.
This group, along with Armando Broja’s return from injury and the emergence of Lewis Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka, provides a solid foundation for Pochettino to develop.
Broja was offered £30 million last year, despite having scored only eight Premier League goals while on loan at Southampton the year prior. His assurance is that he could replace Kane as the new adversary.
Nobody expects him to come close to filling such enormous footsteps. But if the academy graduate can return in top physical condition, there is a position for him on the team.
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The only thing preventing them from providing the Argentine coach with the exact foundation he desires is their ability to retain the players they already have.
Mauricio Pochettino’s new four-man Chelsea spirit after £214m transfer conclusion