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Chelsea could lose a key talent | Getty Images
Chelsea are said to be on course to on course to lose one of their best young talents.
Chelsea are set to lose a key youngster to one of their Premier League rivals as the battle to secure the best young talent goes on. The Blues have placed plenty of emphasis on signing young talent over recent years, regularly focusing their efforts on players who are young enough to improve in value and ability.
In fact, Chelsea had the youngest average age of players used in the Premier League last season, with an average age of 23.7, and the nearest contender was Burnley with an average age of 24.8, and Tottenham were third with an average age of 25. That shows the direction Chelsea have been headed in and the emphasis they have placed on youth.
But while there looks to be a path to first team opportunities for young players, one youngster now looks as though he his joining a Premier League rival. Under-15s starlet Jeremiah Adesion is set to sign for Manchester City, according to Fabrizio Romano, who posted on X: “Manchester City are set to sign one more talent for the Academy as they close in on the signing of Jeremiah Adesina. Agreement done as the player will join up with Manchester City.”
That will be seen as bad news for Chelsea, with Manchester City perhaps enacting a slice of revenge for the loss of Cole Palmer. Chelsea paid £42.5 million to sign Palmer from City but he is already worth double that by most estimates.
City also youth-facing
Manchester City have also placed plenty of emphasis on youth over recent years. City academy boss Thomas Krucken told the MEN at a youth summit last year: “Continuing Manchester City Academy’s development is vital, and the Academy Summit is now a key part of our strategy. We have had huge success in recent seasons, both on the pitch and in producing players for our first team - but we cannot stand still. We must continue to evolve and improve. That’s exactly what the Academy Summit is designed to do.
"This was the first time the event has been held and it was hugely successful. Around 100 staff attended, and workshops focused on what the future player looks like, tactical innovations, leadership styles and the future of our game. Football is constantly changing, and Manchester City must be at the forefront of that change.”
Knucken added: “There are no excuses but there are reasons. A couple of reasons before, because of the success of the last season," Krucken said. "The club sold a few players and a couple went out on loan. We had injury problems, lots of key players are injured. Nico has only just come back, Max Alleyne has been injured. Lots of players had the opportunity to train with the first team. Much more than last season.
"This is so great. I cannot believe the transition phase - Pep Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain know all the players in detail. They care about them. But the training group is quite small. The team is the youngest team - we want that. We work hard to make sure the results, even though we dominate in the games, but we don't score enough goals. We are creating too many chances but not scoring enough goals. We need to make sure next season we improve the results because it is not our claim to be near the bottom. It's for us to develop the players like in the past. When in this squad, most players become players in professional football, we did everything right."
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