Football is quite mad. Justin Osagie (now 20), signed for Celtic from West Ham United’s youth system three years ago. Two years later, he was released without making an appearance. That was followed by a similarly barren period at Peterborough United, who released him in May. The player now has a Chelsea contract.
Players develop at different stages, but at the risk of underestimating Chelsea’s player development capabilities, the chances of Justin making the grade, or even being in the senior game five years from now, are low. So what’s going on?
At many clubs, several coaches have authorisation to make contract offers to players. As well as those who recruit for the first team, others have budget to enhance youth or development squads (they are not always the same thing). I’ve known coaches down the ranks at a club to be under pressure to spend their budget. Failure to do so, is a failure (see feedback on Celtic’s failure to spend sufficiently on the first team in the summer).
This results in deals being done which don’t always pass the sniff test, like this one. Chelsea are also absolute masters at rebranding a player. Couldn’t cut it at Peterborough? What will a dozen appearances for the Chelsea development side do for his value? That kind of branding has attracted bids for more than a few players with ‘limited potential’.
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