Chelsea somewhat obliges Gareth Southgate’s hopes for English youth
By George Perry
Gareth Southgate wants to see more young English players in the Premier League and other top-level leagues. Chelsea are doing their part, their way, with five players on loan in the top flight.
England manager Gareth Southgate hopes that the success of the Young Lions this summer – winning three international tournaments – will set the stage for England’s success at the senior level for years to come. Carrying that success over from the youth to the senior levels will require a commitment by English clubs to merge education with opportunity.
Southgate acknowledged his self-interest in wanting more England internationals playing in England. He also did not neglect the value of Englishmen going abroad, provided they play at the top levels wherever they are.
He pointed out that the Premier League has a lower percentage of domestic players than other top leagues. At the same time, those countries also export more players, resulting in the Premier League having only about one-third English players.
"You can have the best education system going but if people don’t have the opportunity to display what you can do then it’s difficult for them to develop. – The Telegraph"
The Blues are aiding Southgate’s cause by improving the quality of their loans, and sending players on more competitive loans earlier in their career. More Chelsea players will play at higher levels on loan this season than in previous years.
Chelsea have already loaned more players to Premier League clubs this year than in any other. Of those five, four are English (Kurt Zouma being the fifth). Aina, Dasilva and Ike Ugbo will spend next season in the Championship, while Mount, Colkett and Fankaty Dabo are already at Vitesse.
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Chelsea’s loan roster contains several other prospects for Southgate’s future squads. Ola Aina, Isaiah Brown, Kasey Palmer and Lewis Baker (who still has a chance of staying at Chelsea) will all compete for caps in the coming years. Behind them, Mason Mount, Charlie Colkett and Jake Clarke-Salter and Jay Dasilva figure into England’s future as well as Chelsea’s.
However, Chelsea’s first team will likely contribute only one player to Southgate’s World Cup squad: club and country captain Gary Cahill. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham will be on Southgate’s watch-list, but both are considerable long-shots. Any Blues who make the squad will almost certainly reunite with Nathaniel Chalobah at St. George’s Park.
The World Cup likely played a large part in some of Chelsea’s loans and transfers this summer. Gareth Southgate highly rates Chalobah, but that does not mean he would select him for a World Cup squad on last year’s playing time. Chalobah’s ambition for England likely contributed to his desire to leave Chelsea.
If Chelsea does not have a place for someone like Chalobah, the best thing they can do for his career is a loan or transfer. After six loans, Chalobah was likely as interested in stability as consistency, and he chose the latter. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, on the other hand, having never had a loan and being so closely tied to the academy’s hopes, took the first option.
Gareth Southgate was smart to say that young English players need top level opportunities wherever they can find them, not necessarily at the Premier League. Southgate is not calling for a more English Premier League. He simply wants Premier League clubs to do right by their young domestic players.
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Other leagues and associations in Europe manage this task. While doing so, they have pulled ahead of England in club and national competitions. Southgate’s interests may be rooted in his responsibilities and ambitions, but he is not the only who will benefit.