The Application does his best to answer all of Sam and Peter’s questions about the FFP rules and the potential squad moves.
Q: Where does Victor Moses fit?
As far as RdM is concerned, he doesn’t have an ideal right winger for his vision. Marko Marin and Ramires aren’t natural right wingers – both prefer to play different positions. Marin didn’t start against Brighton, which shows RdM might have a Kalou role in mind for him whether Chelsea fans like it or not. Don’t forget that KdB was sent to limbo because he refused to adapt to the new role.
Q: Is a loan deal possible for Moses?
It is highly unlikely Moses would be sent out. Moses has more Premier League experience than any of our signings. Moses wouldn’t have a steep learning curve and he would fight very hard to earn playing time. Chelsea wouldn’t fight this hard for a player they would just send on loan anyway.
Q: Is Skippy on his way out?
Short term, yes, long term, no. Skippy is still just 19 – people need to remember that. His loan to Swansea was considered a failure but anyone that has seen Sigurdsson play knows that that kid is a very rare talent. Skippy was stuck behind a player that fit better into the Rodgers system. For those of you that haven’t seen Sigurdsson play, he is almost identical to a young Frank Lampard.
Q: Is Romeu on his way out?
Short term, yes, long term, yes. Romeu is in a very tricky position. He watched himself go from being AVB’s favorite to RdM looking for his replacement (not to mention the fact he’ll be 21 this season, making him part of the 25-man squad). Mikel has earned his spot long term and Chalobah will likely take the other spot one day. It looks like Romeu might be a money making player for Chelsea in the future despite all the promise he has shown.
Q: What about Essien and Yossi?
Essien is actually contracted until 2015 and doesn’t count under FFP rules because he was signed before the rules came into effect (same for many of our higher paid players). There’s no real reason for Chelsea to sell him just yet and RdM seems to feel that way. Yossi is in his last year, though, and Chelsea might want to recoup some money before he leaves for free next year. He might be a deadline transfer again.
Q: Does Skippy help with FFP rules?
Not yet. He’s only 19 and will be 20. Homegrown players only count when they’re 21 and older. One tricky thing about FFP rules is that you’ll need half of the required homegrown players (four) to be club trained for the Champions League.
Sidebar – There are two kinds of homegrown players: Club trained and FA trained. JT, Bertrand and Hutch are club trained while Danny, Cashley, Lamps, Cahill and Turnbull are all FA trained. Club trained obviously means they were part of Chelsea’s youth academy and FA trained means they were part of another English team’s academy.
What this means is players like Hutch and Skippy have very special value because they are club trained homegrown players. Remember that JT is getting up there and Hutch is only contracted through the end of this season. By the time Skippy is 21, it is possible Bertrand could be our only club trained player.
Q: Does Moses count as a homegrown player?
Yes he does. He was trained by Crystal Palace (shout out to Richard Bamber!) and therefore is a FA trained player. His value is that he adds a 10th homegrown player so Chelsea can decide if they want to offload Kakuta and another player (anyone from Turnbull to Sturridge) while complying with FFP rules.
Some side notes related to these subjects.
Players like Blackman, Kane and Chalobah are highly valued by Chelsea. The board expects these players to be their club trained stars of the future, which is why they were the ones on tour and came to the CL Final.
Club trained players require that the player play three years in England before their 21st birthdays. There has been some question about players like Piazon, who were officially signed on their 18th birthdays. Those players don’t count as homegrown by either set of rules. A player like Affane (Sweden) or Christensen (Denmark), who were in Chelsea’s academy before their 18th birthdays, do qualify. You don’t have to be English to be “club trained.”
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