Chelsea’s pursuit of English talents is falling flat per the usual

Chelsea wants to snap up a few young English players, but they are hitting the usual roadblocks that are associated with those types of players.

There was a time where Michael Emenalo’s master plan, other than hoping his army of Europe’s most highly rated youth would come good, was to snap up all the best young English players and build around them. The idea was to create something akin to John Terry, Ashley Cole, and Frank Lampard that could serve as the foundation for the club.

The Blues were hit by the usual roadblocks associated with such players. Luke Shaw was too expensive and ended up going to Manchester United. The Blues tried for John Stones, but Everton held firm only to sell him the following season to Manchester City. The only one the Blues wanted that they got was Ross Barkley, and that was after it was clear he was not going to be the English Lionel Messi.

Fast forward to the present day and Chelsea has built their own in house English core. Even still, the Blues are looking to reinforce with the best young English players at the same time. Declan Rice and Ben Chilwell are among the targets, but the Blues are running into familiar walls with both. That really should not come as a surprise.

It sounds obvious, but English clubs rate their English talents. They know that they are sitting on a gold mine every time a player comes good. Furthermore, because of the Premier League’s financial status compared to the rest of the world, clubs know they can rake rivals over the coals for their players.

If Rice or Chilwell were from any other European country, there is simply no way a club like Chelsea would be considering transfer fees of £60 million plus for either. But that homegrown premium is real and that is the price of admission to snap up England’s talents as an English club.

But beyond all of that, neither club wants to sell or needs to sell either. Both Chilwell and Rice are contracted until 2024. And at 23 and 21 years old respectively, their value will only increase over the next few years until the clubs reach a point where they have to sale before the value dips.

Then there is the whole matter of playing time. Both would probably come into Chelsea as starters, but that will not be a guarantee long term. If either were to struggle over the course of a season, a club like Chelsea would not hesitate to find a new player that would succeed. At Leicester City and West Ham, the players do not have that fear. They know they are kings of the hill so long as they stay.

The only thing that would really force either club to part with the players this summer would be them pushing for a transfer publicly. That would still offer no guarantee (see Stones), but it would at least put pressure on the club to sell and reinvest those funds elsewhere. £60 million plus would go a long ways at a club like Leicester (as it indeed has) or West Ham (if they can figure out how to spend like they know what they are doing).

It is understandable why Chelsea wants these players, but with cheaper and arguably better options available abroad, the Blues are better off turning their attention else where the longer these sagas go on for.