Piet de Visser speaks to papers rarely, but when he does it is often noteworthy. His comments on Chelsea confirm what everyone was thinking.
One can be excused for not knowing exactly who Piet de Visser is. He would probably prefer it that way. Having been at the club almost as long as Roman Abramovich, De Visser often stays behind the scenes. Except, of course, when he decides to take a hammer to someone when he speaks publicly.
De Visser is one of Chelsea’s many scouts and is one of the privileged few with Abramovich’s ear. Signings, both of players and managers, have been made on his advice. Sackings too. And as much as anyone else, he was vital in shaping the current academy set up that Chelsea is (finally) profiting from themselves.
It is that last bit that makes him an authority in his most recent comments. He spoke about Nathan Ake and Tammy Abraham but most importantly he spoke about Callum Hudson-Odoi. And to the surprise of no one, he confirms that Hudson-Odoi was set to leave if Maurizio Sarri stayed and that Sarri was more or less ordered to give the winger a look.
Hudson-Odoi had been Chelsea’s best player in Sarri’s only preseason with the club. The Europa League, with its easier opponents, could have been a silver lining for the youth. Instead, Sarri opted to play the same out of form wingers over and over. Unlike the meritocracy of this year, Hudson-Odoi could not simply train or perform his way into the XI.
The wingers transfer request was not out of disloyalty. A player only has one career and they deserve to get the most out of it. If Sarri was not going to recognize Hudson-Odoi’s obvious talent, then Bayern Munich would.
The board held firm against Bayern’s interest but understood something had to be done. It is never a good thing when the board starts dictating selection. But Hudson-Odoi’s impact was obvious. He was (and is) a generational talent going to waste and with a foot out the door. Had Sarri stayed, Hudson-Odoi would have been gone as soon as possible. That is no longer the realms of fiction or hearsay; it is fact.
Hudson-Odoi’s desire to leave was not just about Sarri though. It was about Ruben Loftus-Cheek wasting away on the bench for years, needing to go to Crystal Palace to make the World Cup, and then wasting away for another half year before getting a solid look in December of last season. It was about Tammy Abraham who De Visser says the club was considering selling. It was about Nathan Ake who had done great on loan when he was recalled by Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, only to barely play and end up being sold back to the club he was recalled from.
Just as much as De Visser pointed out the problems, he pointed out the solution. De Visser confirmed he had been following Derby County last season but “following” for a scout can look a lot like, well, scouting. With Abramovich’s attention, it would not be surprising at all to learn that De Visser was a big advocate for bringing Lampard back in. And with Lampard in at Chelsea, the issues of history and present that Hudson-Odoi faced evaporated away. The pipeline that De Visser always envisioned between the academy and the first team was finally put in place by a player that was at the club when De Visser first arrived.
Hudson-Odoi extended and quickly looks like Chelsea’s best winger. Abraham stayed and is the Premier League’s joint top scorer. And De Visser wants Ake to return too as the Blues allegedly put a buy back on him.
Chelsea is on a path that De Visser helped create and long advocated for. At 85, the adviser remains deeply involved with the club. He may be behind the scenes more often than not, but he has his finger on the pulse of the club more than anyone.