Ivanovic says Chelsea have great young players coming up
(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Branislav Ivanovic expects "a great generation of young players" to emerge at Chelsea next season and bolster the champions' senior squad having been impressed by the impact made by Ruben Loftus-Cheek on his full Premier League debut.
The England Under-19 midfielder started against Liverpool on Sunday and featured for an hour in the 1-1 draw, operating alongside the experienced Mikel John Obi, having been promoted to train with the senior squad in January. Chelsea have also offered the likes of Dominic Solanke, Nathan Aké and Andreas Christensen a taste of first-team football this season, while Mitchell Beeney was on the bench against Liverpool and Isaiah Brown will make his debut at West Bromwich Albion next Monday.
The inclusion of the youth players suggests the club, who have won the FA Youth Cup in four of the past six seasons and won the Uefa Youth League this term, do intend to tap into their junior ranks in the years ahead.
"In my opinion we have a great generation of young players," said Ivanovic. "They improve during training with us and they can be competitive in the team. They can make our squad bigger and, in the future, we can really think about [using] them. It's not just Ruben. We have a minimum of five or six players who can be in our squad and it is great for the manager to give them a chance to play.
"Solanke, Izzy Brown, Christensen, Ake " these guys are already with us and they have showed they can play in training. In the next couple of games they will get a chance. It's a great motivation for them. They're still young, they need to fight. But this is the period, the next one or two years, where they need to prove they are really good."
Chelsea's burgeoning youth set-up has tended to supply players for other clubs in recent years, a strategy which has benefited their compliance with financial fair play regulations through sales. They have had around 30 players on loan in England and abroad in each of the last two seasons, including the PFA's Championship player of the year Patrick Bamford at Middlesbrough. Yet José Mourinho has stressed the current crop would benefit more from training and fringe involvement around the first-team at Cobham than playing regularly elsewhere.
Loftus-Cheek € a powerfully built, 19-year-old, 6ft 3in midfielder € will remain at the club next season and has been earmarked to play more regularly in the senior side having completed his full debut with a 100% successful pass completion rate. "He's going to be a Chelsea player, that's no doubt," said Mourinho. "We have other kids I also believe can perfectly do it: good work at academy level; good co-operation with us when the players go into the zone where they are almost but not quite there. Hopefully we have more in the future."
The England Under-19 midfielder started against Liverpool on Sunday and featured for an hour in the 1-1 draw, operating alongside the experienced Mikel John Obi, having been promoted to train with the senior squad in January. Chelsea have also offered the likes of Dominic Solanke, Nathan Aké and Andreas Christensen a taste of first-team football this season, while Mitchell Beeney was on the bench against Liverpool and Isaiah Brown will make his debut at West Bromwich Albion next Monday.
The inclusion of the youth players suggests the club, who have won the FA Youth Cup in four of the past six seasons and won the Uefa Youth League this term, do intend to tap into their junior ranks in the years ahead.
"In my opinion we have a great generation of young players," said Ivanovic. "They improve during training with us and they can be competitive in the team. They can make our squad bigger and, in the future, we can really think about [using] them. It's not just Ruben. We have a minimum of five or six players who can be in our squad and it is great for the manager to give them a chance to play.
"Solanke, Izzy Brown, Christensen, Ake " these guys are already with us and they have showed they can play in training. In the next couple of games they will get a chance. It's a great motivation for them. They're still young, they need to fight. But this is the period, the next one or two years, where they need to prove they are really good."
Chelsea's burgeoning youth set-up has tended to supply players for other clubs in recent years, a strategy which has benefited their compliance with financial fair play regulations through sales. They have had around 30 players on loan in England and abroad in each of the last two seasons, including the PFA's Championship player of the year Patrick Bamford at Middlesbrough. Yet José Mourinho has stressed the current crop would benefit more from training and fringe involvement around the first-team at Cobham than playing regularly elsewhere.
Loftus-Cheek € a powerfully built, 19-year-old, 6ft 3in midfielder € will remain at the club next season and has been earmarked to play more regularly in the senior side having completed his full debut with a 100% successful pass completion rate. "He's going to be a Chelsea player, that's no doubt," said Mourinho. "We have other kids I also believe can perfectly do it: good work at academy level; good co-operation with us when the players go into the zone where they are almost but not quite there. Hopefully we have more in the future."
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