Chelsea is already a squad pushed to the limits of homegrown players. It is concerning that those players are almost exclusively rumored to leave.
When Chelsea was first linked to Maurizio Sarri, many pointed towards his record at Empoli as “proof” that he would play youth. They waved off the fact that he was very much not a youth manager at Napoli by saying their academy and bench was too weak.
But the truth is exactly as it was advertised. Sarri has barely used the youth at all and the ones he has used are barely still youth to begin with. Not only that, but Sarri’s propensity to stick with a small core of players has alienated other, older players.
All together, it is about to cause a crisis with homegrown numbers in the squad. Players do not see themselves getting opportunities so they seek them elsewhere. And that will put a strain on the squad.
Starting with the older players, Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill are both heavily linked with moves away in January. Danny Drinkwater seems content to collect a pay check regardless but eventually he too will depart.
Meanwhile, Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are questioning what plan the club has laid out for them. Even younger, Callum Hudson-Odoi is reluctant to extend as he sees his youth teammates start at other elite clubs as he wastes away in the reserves. Marcin Bulka is in the same boat. One can assume Ethan Ampadu could be getting equally itchy feet.
Now, Chelsea will not be strong armed by all of these players at once. But they will need to trim some or see them go for free. And with a squad already pushing the limits of how many non homegrown players are on the roster, seeing the homegrown guys depart could be very harmful.
Ideally, Chelsea’s homegrown players would all be academy players. But a successful academy with no clear path way to the first team is a very bad combination. Plus, as already mentioned, many academy players are seeing their compatriots play at other clubs as they sit in the reserves.
Toss in a rumored transfer ban (ironically because of how some youth may have been acquired) and the squad will become very stretched. The Blues have chased success but at the expense of bringing any player through. A club cannot sack a manager every two years and expect anyone to have a chance of a first team debut.
What is the solution? Rotate more and play the kids. Tell Sarri to do just that. The Italian has a core 14 or so and everyone else is feeding off scraps. Playing so many games through winter will be new to him but he must find a place to keep these homegrown players happy. If he does not, the entire squad will become drained of resources and the good players will be played into the ground.
All of this is of Chelsea’s own making. Only the mangers who have stuck around have started to incorporate youth. But Chelsea does not let managers stick around and they hired one who plays good football but only with a select corps. If Chelsea wants to see the academy succeed and not have to worry about homegrown players, they must demand that Sarri changes his ways.