Chelsea FC Accused Of ‘Warehousing’ By PFA Boss
Chelsea FC’s loan policies have come under fire from PFA boss Gordon Taylor
Chelsea FC currently have 33 players out on loan. That is a lot. Consequentially, the club have had much criticism directed their way due to what some people feel is an abuse of the loan system. Now, the head of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Gordon Taylor has made clear his stance on the matter.
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Speaking to The Daily Mirror, the longtime union chief accused the Blues of ‘warehousing’ talent and stated that Chelsea’s influence is stretching so far that the validity of other competitions is in doubt.
"It’s a bit of a worry with so many Chelsea players out on loan. It’s almost a warehousing of players. You wonder whether it brings into question the integrity of the various competitions."
Many players have figuratively arrived at Stamford Bridge before being immediately redirected on loan to another club. It almost seems as if the Blues are on a quest to monopolise the world’s footballers. Taylor evidently is not a fan and he went on to further elaborate on his concerns.
"Players want to play and the loan system gives them that chance. But then there are players at these clubs in Europe who are denied the chance because others are coming in with their parent clubs paying their wages. It makes that option more attractive.So then it is not about the best team winning a particular competition, it is about who has the best relationship with the biggest clubs."
This relationship issue is particularly relevant to Chelsea given the bizarre tacit agreement that the club have in place with Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem. Over the last few seasons, a bunch of Blues players have been shipped out to the Eredivisie to get playing time with Vitesse. In fact, the links between the clubs came under investigation by the Dutch FA after claims that Chelsea wielded extensive influence over Vitesse’s footballing affairs.
A former Vitesse owner stated that the Blues discouraged the club from qualifying for the Champions League. With UEFA rules banning one owner from having two clubs in the same competition and Vitesse being owned by an associate of Roman Abramovich in Alexander Chigirinsky, the Blues had to declare that the Dutch side are wholly independent from Chelsea.
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While Taylor may not be keen on Chelsea’s loan policies, there is no doubt that the club benefits greatly from the system. It enables them to send their young talent away to develop and get game time in competitive environments. It also gives the club an opportunity to increase the value of unwanted players should they perform well.
Admittedly, Taylor’s criticisms are not unjust. Chelsea do abuse the system to an extent. However, Blues fans will continue to defend the club’s behaviour given how beneficial it is. What Chelsea are doing is perfectly legal so if the integrity of other competitions in doubt, Taylor must push for restrictions preventing such actions.
In the meantime, Pride Of London writer Mark Treadwell is a third of the way through a three-part series examining Chelsea’s loan system so I encourage you to check out Part 1 here.
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