4 days ago
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Chelsea are apparently “ready to throw a missile into the Liverpool academy” as they look for “revenge” for the poaching of Rio Ngumoha, one of the country’s best young talents 18 month ago.
The now 17 year old is already making first team appearances for the Reds, and has scored a memorable match winner this season. Chelsea, after developing him from a very young age, are thinking he should be in Blue.
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The natural end point of teams like Chelsea focusing on buying young players and developing them rather than buying them at the peak of their value is this – clubs tempting teenagers to join their academy when they’re look young to even have a contract or a transfer fee.
Parents being tapped up and sold the world
The Chelsea FC Cobham training ground and academy building.
“Parents and agents (in an unofficial capacity, since you cannot legally represent players until they are 16) are being tapped up and, to put it mildly, sold the world by most big clubs,” The Daily Mail report.
“Chelsea want revenge. At least three Reds players, two aged 15 and one 16, are on their radar.”
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We’re very curious to see who that ends up being. They make the point that Liverpool scouts were banned from Chelsea youth games.
“This is the murky world of English football’s arms race for the best young talents and the underhand tactics that enable this poaching culture and make it more common. This is academy wars.”
In other news…
Strasbourg fans are already largely unsure about the multi-club model, and having Liam Rosenior taken off them mid-season seems like it could be the last straw for many of them.
The man they’re trying to poach, Liam Rosenior, doesn’t even seem like he wants the job that much. Things are going well at Strasbourg and he would likely rather stay there another 18 months at least to build his skills.
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