A New Dawn at The Bridge?

By: Devin | July 22nd, 2011

It seems that after years of purchasing aging talent we may at last be buying from the Fountain of Youth. Hit the jump for more.

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Baby Diddy Sauce.

Let’s just address the elephant in the room right now before I go any further. Yes, we spent 50 million pounds on Fernando Torres. So far, that looks to be a waste of money- but then again time will tell if it was a worthy investment or a foolhardy purchase. For now, we can only reference his scant body of work from last season and look cautiously towards the future. So get that out of your minds before I delve into the following.

We’re going young. Younger. Infant status. Okay maybe not to such an extent, but you get the jist. Gone, apparently, are the days of buying aged stars on the decline. No longer are we linked with the Andrea Pirlo’s of the world. Nay, now we’re connected with every 17 + starlet on the continent that can kick a ball. This philosophical evolution of sorts started last January when the club beat a laundry-list of suitors to the pre-contract signature of Brazil’s U-17 Lucas Piazon. Though he won’t connect with the first team until January 2012, it was remarked at the time as a major coup by the club and perhaps a suggestion that the powers that be had an eye on the looming FFP sanctions and impending crisis it would cause a free-wheelin’ cash-spendin’ club like ours.

This summer, we’ve made two deals, lining up and grabbing Mr. Thibs (Thibaut Courtois) from Belgian Champions Genk, and immediately farming him out to Atletico Madrid for a minimum of two seasons. As well, and this one seemingly flew under the radar, we raided the Catalan shores for Cameroonian sensation U-17 Gael Etock. Etock, who many within the Barca camp had earmarked for stardom, is due to spend the upcoming season at Sporting Lisbon before joining the club in 2012/2013. Then there’s the latest deal to be announced, involving another Barca starlet, Oriel Romeu. Jack gave you the skinny on his background. Yeah, another young gun.

Now, lets talk Lukaku. Oriel Romeu, meet Romelu Lukaku. Get to know one another. Find someone to co-sign your lease. Whatever, just find a parent and get settled in SW6. If we are successful in our pursuit of Romeluski, this would suggest a handful of things to my untrained eye:

Roman Abramovich is specifically recruiting players that share his name.
He might actually have some faith in our scouting network after years of speculation and rumor.
AVB seems to have a hand in deciding our transfer strategy. Excellent news.
We’re actually seeking to refresh the average age of our somewhat creaky squad.
“THE KIDS ARE OUR FUTURE….MAAAAAN”

Add to the mix the additional good news involving a crop of our current kids inking extensions over the last six months (Gael Kakuta, PVA, Bertrand, McEachran) and this seems to be the first true indication that the club are finally moving in a new direction. We may forever be linked with the Modric and Aguero’s of the world, but it seems the club may at last be intent of fostering young and prodigious talent. That does not mean we won’t ever dip a toe in the expensive talent pool persay, but it does give me hope.

Hope, my friends. That at long last we won’t just be the club that buys expensive names and finds ways to fit them on a Starting XI chart just because they seem like good players. Hope, at last, that we’ll make informed purchases of young players who can develop into trustworthy and solid players featuring in our rotation for the next 10 years. Hope, in the truest sense, that I will no longer have to amuse myself with this idea that we’ll never have a young superstar unlike our English rivals. I may have wild expectations and I could well be jumping the gun with this, especially if we do wrap a deal with THFC for Luka, but I’m not letting that harsh my buzz right now. I really do believe we are witnessing the beginning of a new era at The Bridge.

KTBFFH

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Category: Chelsea Loans, Chelsea Reserves, Chelsea Team News, Opinion, Player News, Transfer News, Transfer Rumors

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Chels

What about Gourlay saying we're gonna buy 2 more players in the next 10 days. Who's it gonna be?
CharlieFineman

I guess Lukaku. And Palermo president keeps mentioning Chelsea as Pastore's destination, so I'll add Pastore.
CharlieFineman

Judging by this picture Lukaku might be like 9ft tall!
CharlieFineman

I, for one, just hope that Oriol Romeu doesn't turn out to be the next Nemanja Matic. If we buy him, let him play. Just like Josh, who I believe will have even more playing time if Villas-Boas keep him in the first-team. Basically, to get by we only need a few more players. A creative mid and a winger on either side.
Sean Finnegan

While I'd love to see Chelsea invest in talented youth for long term results, part of me still can't resist seeing a player like Wesley Sneijder in Chelsea's blue. The man's a proven playmaker with a knack for scoring brilliant goals, which is something our midfield seems to need now. I love Lampard, but his age is showing.
Kenny Shackelford

While I love the direction we are going with transfers recently, I do think we need 1,2, maybe 3 players who can start right now. I'm over watching Malouda, Anelka, and Kalou give the same average performances. Pastore would be ideal, Pastore and Modric would be amazing.
Aman

podolski torres sturridge
lampard ramires modric
a.cole terry luiz ivanovic
.............cech..............(4-3-3)
subs(lukaku malouda kalou zirkhov mcheacran benayoun scot dann bosingwa hillario..)
Denny

I stopped reading at Podolski.
Kaigamerkai

Chelsea should sign aguero ( swap malouda and anelka and money) , Turan , Lukaku , Monotolivo , VDW ( Swap bosingwa a little money)

torres drogba
aguero
turan monotolivo lampard
a.cole terry alex ivanovic
cech ( 4-3-1-2) First team
Sub:
Turbull
Obi
Ramries
Zirkov
VDW
Luiz
YossiZirkov Aguero Kalou Yossi Obi Ramries A.Cole Luiz Ivanovic VDW CeCh (4-3-3) Second team and send Lukaku, Sturridge, kakuta ON TO LOAN BOTLON
Seth

completely agree. Barcelona are one top of the world right now largely due to the incredible cohesion they have formed from playing together for 10 years. Of course, having Messi helps, but La Masia definitely had a hand crafting him. It's also excellent business, buying players and developing them in our system for decent cash rather than splashing, say, 50mil on a top striker and playing Pin the Tail on The Formation in the locker room. Really encouraging stuff from both AVB and Roman. Here's hoping AVB sticks around and our youth system becomes the envy of England.
Chris

Yes very good news to see some young talent being signed and also josh, ryan & gael resigning. we still deperately need playmaker in midfield & good wide player to get decent crosses in
Rohan2587

please sell malouda and kalou.. buy a playmaker... the most important part for this current squad is playmaker.. if we get a playmaker who can feed torres.. he'll strt scoring too...
ideal

i think loc is right...its not that I'm not a fan of malouda...but from the previous game against pompey and Malaysia, he seems lacking a bit in term of the desire to win...we might need fresh faces...but maybe not to many though....
nelson

where is Micheal Manciene, Miroslave Stoch, Franco de santo, scoth sinclire, ben sahar, tore, bruma, sala, borini, corck?
Devin Anand

Mancienne was never breaking past the back four.
Stoch wasn't good enough and the stats demonstrate this now.
Di Santo is trash, couldn't cut it at Blackburn FFS.
Sinclair, we shall see what he does now against the big boys for QPR.
Sahar, child please.
Tore, that one hurts. Kid will be a stud.
Bruma, coming back in two years a well-seasoned player.
Sala, not sure if I really care.
Borini, hurts but then again we have Danny.
Cork, not a problem to lose him.

Piazon, Romeu, Lukaku, Etock, and Courtois are all regularly playing for their current squads, or at least were. None of the above Chelsea kids ever cracked the list. Have faith, and dial down the cynicism.
Denny

I gotta disagree with you Devin.

Mancienne wasn't breaking in any time soon, but all he needed was time. He'll be in an England shirt one day, and Arneson's conviction in bringing him to Hamburg will show it.
Stoch is the same way, the most underrated wonderkid out there. He was a huge part of the success of Twente, and he's already making appearances at Fener. He's only 21.
Borini, Sala, Bruma, and Cork should be Chelsea's rightful sons. What they did to Jack Cork was disgraceful, but it's the same with almost everyone else on that list. Sahar, Sinclair, Kakuta, etc.

The fact is that Chelsea invested so much into that crop of kids, but they simply were never given a chance, and almost all of them deserved a shot. Even though they may not be good enough to break Chelsea's first 11 right away, the transfer policy run by Roman wrote off their chances before they even signed into the academy.

Honestly, until Chelsea win the CL or Roman runs out of money, I don't think this new crop of kids - Piazon, Lukaku, Courtois, Romeu, Maceachran - will fare any better. And people recognize this, thus the constant loaning out of these kids to go 'prove' themselves before earning the right to wear a Chelsea shirt. It's a shame really.
Diego

Sinclair plays for Swansea......Gotcha... Lol
orthodoxyordeath

This is really good news. Now we just need to integrate them and give them playing time, and make sure we don't buy more old established players and bump these boys out.
Loc Dog

we should sell anelka specially malouda i dont know why he still plays for us hes just useless he is getting fatter, slower he thinks he can score from 30 yards out pls he dont play for the team