Chelsea Banter Archive March 15 2020

15 Mar 2020 20:17:44
How good is this Jude Bellingham kid, linked to most top clubs in England, ? What position or comparison could someone give?

16 Mar 2020 12:49:46
Martin Peters.

15 Mar 2020 15:45:13
Ed001, got a hypothetical question for you if you're around.

Reports surfacing regarding Bellingham, and that 4 clubs are intent on paying what is necessary to acquire him in the summer. Those clubs being: Bayern, Dortmund, United and Chelsea.

Now if you were Jude Bellingham's father or mother, which club would you advise him to choose and why? I'm curious to read :-)

Obviously myself I would want him to choose Chelsea, but I think Dortmund would be the wisest choice for him at this point. What do you reckon?

Thanks, and take care. Even more now with the current pandemic.

{Ed001's Note - that is a tough question, though I would immediately rule out Bayern as they are not the best at bringing through youth players. I would also rule out United because they are not the best at letting players leave who want to leave, if things don't work out. They are acting ridiculously in the Pogba situation, which suggests it would be difficult if it all fell apart.

That leaves a straight battle between Chelsea and Dortmund. While staying near home might seem like a good thing, personally I would worry what would happen in the future. Until this season, when they were under transfer restrictions, Chelsea have tended to just farm youngsters out on loan. A year or two here and a year or two there is not good for development, you don't get emotional depth that way. You can't put down roots, make good friends etc.

So I would also think Dortmund were the best option. They have a long history of bringing through players, developing them and then selling them on when the time is right for both parties. There is a good chance he could stay there a few years to develop as both a person and player, while also learning a new culture and experiencing a different lifestyle. Then he could move on when he is ready and, if he has worked hard and improved the way he could, a huge money move would beckon to the club of his choice.

Dortmund would be putting it in his hands as to how his future goes. The others would mean taking a big chance on the club's direction and putting it out of his own hands.}

15 Mar 2020 16:19:20
Fair enough, Ed. I would agree on Bayern from what I can tell.

Regarding United, your point seems to be a valid one. De Gea is obviously another one who wanted to leave, but wasn't allowed to. And as you said Pogba's been wanting out for a while and they've so far seemingly refused to cooperate. On top of that I don't think they've been the best at bringing through young players, apart from under Van Gaal. Some of their brightest attacking talents of the last few years, Chong and Gomes, have hardly played. And while I understand it's not always possible to give enough chances to the young players, in that case you at least need a plan for them that will give them those chances elsewhere.
I know you're not the biggest fan of Chelsea's loan system yourself, Ed, but in recent years it's seemed to me that they've been more careful in picking out loans for players, and we've had some more successful loans. So from what I can tell there's at least a pretty good plan for younger players, even if it may not always be ideal.

So in my mind I would also choose between Chelsea and Dortmund, and as I said in the original post Dortmund seems like the optimal choice when not looking at it with the bias of a Chelsea fan. Your point about them probably being willing to let him move on when the time is right is also a very good one. I just hope United's money doesn't sway him that direction.

Thank you for the reply :-)

{Ed001's Note - very welcome mate and I do agree that Chelsea's loan system can work, I just think it is a silly system to loan players out. Teams should not have these huge squads, it is why the leagues have become so unbalanced and top heavy. Added to that, there are moves to reduce the number of loans allowed gradually, so the loan system will have to be altered. Which is a big worry if you are a youngster looking at joining a big club.}