Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has promised the club’s youngsters that more of them will get playing time next season, reports the Daily Star.
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The Blues’ youngsters have recently won the UEFA Youth League, and also taken a 3-1 first leg lead over Manchester City in the FA Youth Cup final. Despite this success the Portuguese has rarely used the youngsters in the first team, instead preferring to stick with his experienced starters.
However, the 52-year-old has told the group that they will get a chance next time round. With the introduction of Financial Fair Play the Stamford Bridge outfit are unable to spend as much money as they used to, and need their youth system to either produce players to sell for funds or for the starting XI.
Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek was even specifically promised more responsibilities in the next campaign. Fans will have to wait until after the summer to see if their manager backs up these words.
Mourinho said: “They belong to a process. I can’t have 10 of these young players in my squad but I can have three or four and we did that with Loftus-Cheek, [Izzy] Brown, [Andreas] Christensen and [Nathan] Ake – and Solanke a few times.
“Next season, Ruben will not be a kid in the development process. He will be a first-team player, absolutely ready to play and compete. And we will do the same with two or three or four players.”