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What is it really like to be a Chelsea loanee? https://theathletic.com/1795475/2020/05/07/chelsea-loan-players-chalobah-brown-blackman/ The frustrated tone in Jamal Blackman’s voice is palpable. He has just been asked about the way Chelsea’s use of the loan system has been portrayed over the years. “Chelsea is a business but football is the main thing,” he tells The Athletic. “That’s what they should be known for and talked about: how well they are doing. But is there still a misconception about what they do? Yes.” Blackman is one of many on Chelsea’s books that has never played a senior game for the club and has had to join another team to play on a perennial basis. During this season, 30 players — including unwanted first-team members — have gone elsewhere on loan. In the last campaign, the total reached 49. For the club’s army of critics, it’s another stick to beat them with. Type in “Chelsea” and “loans” into Google and an array of negative headlines will crop up. Indeed, when FIFA announced plans, which are yet to be approved by their council, to restrict the amount of loans allowed from next season, it was regarded as a measure targeting sides like Chelsea in particular. The scrutiny is understandable. With competition for places intense at Stamford Bridge, the vast majority of people involved in the practice will never get to represent them. But is that the full story? The Athletic has spent the last few months talking to some of those involved to get their version of events and an insight into what it’s really like to be a Chelsea loanee. How and why loans are arranged Blackman is right to mention loans as part of Chelsea’s modus operandi. Since the Roman Abramovich era began in 2003, it has been a means to earn revenue, as well as giving individuals game time. For example, the £7 million sum agreed with Genk for keeper Thibaut Courtois in 2011 was paid off in fees paid by Atletico Madrid to have him as their No 1 for the following three seasons. Not only did Chelsea have a ready-made replacement for Petr Cech when they recalled Courtois in 2014, he was effectively a free transfer. Even if someone doesn’t become part of the club’s plans like Courtois did, vital funds can be earned which can be ploughed back into the academy system. A demonstration of this was defender Tomas Kalas, who was bought for around £5.2 million from Sigma Olomouc in 2010. The Czech Republic international was on the books for nine years, yet made just four appearances for Chelsea. He was loaned out seven times before being sold to Bristol City for a £2.8 million profit last year. Just like the make-up of the academy, though, the focus has changed. When Frank Arnesen joined as sporting director in 2005, the Dane generally identified foreign youngsters such as Gael Kakuta, Jeffrey Bruma and Slobodan Rajkovic to swell the ranks and they were placed at other venues to develop. Over the past decade, the focus has increasingly changed towards British talent, especially as many of the homegrown players who joined as boys, like Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham, have come of age. When it comes to deciding who goes out on loan, there are clearly two factions. Firstly, senior men who are not part of a manager’s plans and need to play in the hope of getting a permanent move or maintaining some transfer value. In terms of this season, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater fall into this category. Secondly are the next generation coming through and this is the focus of this piece. It quickly becomes obvious that not everyone is treated the same here, either. “When I was young, the club’s former technical director Michael Emenalo was the one pushing me to go on my first loan to Vitesse Arnhem (in 2015),” explains Izzy Brown, who has spent this season on loan at Luton Town in the Championship. “I could have gone to the Championship but he thought it would be the best for my development. At first, I was a bit scared to leave England but I realised he knew what he was talking about. “But after that, it has been more my decision about where I go. If you have a few clubs, it’s about what you think is best for you. Chelsea give you a lot of freedom in that respect. They let me and my agent sort it out. “You kind of know what they have in store for you. In pre-season, you’re either with the first team on tour or you’re sent back with the loan group. I’m 23 now and feel like I should be playing as much football as I can, I have to do what’s best for me but there is no pressure in the decision you make, it’s very easy.” https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2020/05/06154159/ChelseaLoaneesSlow.mp4?_=1 Dujon Sterling, who is a highly-rated right-back, is another who appears to have a lot of say in where he plays. In 2018-19, he was at Coventry and this season, he joined Wigan. “The first thing is me, my agent and my mother find where is best for me to go,” says Sterling, 20. “Then we go to Chelsea and say which we think is the best place. We’ll take Chelsea’s input but it has to be an agreement. “Chelsea asked me if I wanted to go abroad. I said no for now. I think it’s better to stay in England. I’m still young, so there’s no rush. I just thought after League One for my first loan, the obvious step was to go up a step into the Championship.” Conversely, defender Richard Nartey followed a different path before a belated first switch to Burton Albion 11 months ago, when a 21st birthday was approaching. “There’s no age limit; they look after you and make sure you’re ready to go on loan,” says Nartey. “They don’t look at what everyone else has done. You speak to them each year and they say what they think is best for you, then you go from there. I developed later, so I knew I had to be patient. “Chelsea always say that it’s got to be the right loan. Bradley Collins was at Burton last year, so they knew a bit about Burton, and they said it would suit my football and it’s a good introduction to the league. It was perfect for me. “I was speaking to (head of youth development) Neil Bath a lot. He was telling me what he thought was best each year and what he thinks I should do. I’d always take what he says on board because he’s helped so many players improve and develop over the years.” Goalkeeper Nathan Baxter is 21 and has already played for five clubs at various levels. “All my decisions from the age of 17, when I went to represent the Metropolitan Police (in non-League), were primarily made with Neil and my loan coach Christophe Lollichon – the same when I had a choice this season between Ross County (in the Scottish Premier League) or somewhere in League One. It’s very much a joint decision of where I end up. I also spoke to (technical and performance advisor) Cech and other members of the loan team. They’re all helpful with what decisions I take.” Not everything is part of some master plan. In Josh Grant’s case, news of Plymouth’s interest was broken by assistant academy director Jim Fraser on deadline day. “I was training at Chelsea when I got the call from Jim Fraser that I had interest from Plymouth,” the 21-year-old defender says. “Within a few hours, I was speaking to their manager (Ryan Lowe). He showed me how they played and it was a very good style. “People have this impression that League Two isn’t a very high standard but I did my homework. He’d got Bury promoted the previous season and everyone was talking about him, so I decided it was something I wanted to be a part of.” Billy Gilmour is very much the exception to the norm. Bought from Rangers for £550,000 in 2017, the 18-year-old midfielder has been fast-tracked to the first team this season. It would be a surprise if the Scot isn’t one of head coach Frank Lampard’s options in 2020-21, too. Chelsea will continue to use loans to help balance the books. Abramovich made it clear from an early stage he wanted the club to be self-sufficient — a battle which continues, given he invested another £247 million in 2018-19 and they still made a £96.6 million loss (year ending June 30, 2019). Level of contact with the club If anyone believes it’s a case of “out of sight, out of mind”, then think again. The overwhelming consensus from everyone The Athletic spoke to is that everyone is well looked after. It helps that Chelsea have a healthy staff of ex-players in this regard. Carlo Cudicini is the loan technical coach, with Paulo Ferreira, Tore Andre Flo and Claude Makelele acting as senior assistants. Each man is assigned a group of players under their wing to not only act as a mentor but as a regular source of contact and someone to provide detailed analysis and/or coaching. As midfielder Conor Gallagher disclosed, words of encouragement aren’t only restricted to the quartet. While enjoying spells at Charlton and Swansea before football came to a halt in March, his phone would be going off fairly regularly from other key personnel. He says: “(assistant first team coach) Joe Edwards messages me quite a lot because he was my (under-23s) coach last season. “He always likes to message me saying well done and asking me how I’m doing. I got a message from Frank as well, saying, ‘Well done and carry on what you’re doing’. All the coaching staff are really supportive.” Gallagher isn’t the only one who turns to Edwards for words of wisdom. When Grant was offered the opportunity to join Plymouth permanently in January, the 21-year-old consulted him and subsequently turned it down. Primarily, the input comes from one of the four specialist men, though. In Trevoh Chalobah’s case, he has found Ferreira a great help while adapting to life at Huddersfield having been at Ipswich last season. “Paulo comes to watch a lot of my games and we speak afterwards,” says Chalobah. “He was at the match in November when I was sent off against Swansea. Was he having a go at me when we met up? No. He was reassuring. He just wanted me to get my head up and move on. “I’m always being sent clips by him regarding areas I need to work on. I’m used as a midfielder (he can also play at centre-back) at Huddersfield, so the onus is on scanning what is around me and looking over my shoulder. “I’ve been given clips of other players in that position like Jorginho. There will be a clip of what I did in a game and then one of what Jorginho did in a similar position on the pitch so I can compare. It shows me the movements I need to do and make. It’s good for me to be watching that to understand where I need to improve.” Brown enjoys a similar rapport with Flo, although Makelele has also been to Kenilworth Road to see him in action. People working for the Championship club told The Athletic how impressed they’ve been with Chelsea’s level of interest and commitment to their employee. “Tore messaged me during the week; watched a lot of my matches and came to see me every month,” says Brown. “We sat down in a Costa near the training ground and chatted for half an hour. He showed me clips from all the games and just tells me as it is. That’s how I like it. “He talks about creating chances, saying, ‘This is good, you’re making the right decisions’ but then he will show me the opposite, explaining, ‘You could have been more selfish here and had a shot, rather than passing it to someone else’. “I didn’t know about it when Makelele came to see me, too. It gives you such a boost. I watched players like that growing up. They were my idols, so to get advice from them is special. They know what they’re talking about. They have done what you want to do, so you have to listen.” It should be pointed out that these men aren’t just around to talk about matters on the pitch. They become close confidants. Grant has established an important bond with Cudicini. “The best advice I’ve had from him is the mental side of the game,” he says. “He makes me feel I’m not alone. Carlo works with many players, and has done over the years, so will tell me things like, ‘Everyone has had the same thoughts as you are now’. He is someone I can phone up and it doesn’t have to just be about football. “As an academy player, you have your bad games but it’s easier to deal with because no one is really watching. It’s up to you and your coach to deal with it. But playing in front of thousands; you feel like the whole world is upon you. “Carlo has watched what I would consider a ‘bad’ game of mine but then shown me clips of what I’d done well. He’d be like, ‘It’s easy to pick at the wrong things but look at what you did well — use those things for your next match. Work on the things you didn’t do well.’ “It’s massive for me because after a disappointing game, you feel like you’re alone. You feel bad, you don’t want to talk to anyone. But then someone is showing you that you played better than you thought. It picks you up. Your confidence is lifted. You brush it aside and are ready to go again.” Contact hasn’t stopped during the COVID-19 crisis. This week, Grant was part of a meeting with coaches and players on Zoom. It was arranged to keep spirits up; discuss their general welfare, as much as giving reminders of technique. Naturally, moving away for the first time can be intimidating but Chelsea will be on hand to help or make sure players have found accommodation and means of transport. People aren’t ignored when they pick up injuries, either. Baxter sustained a shoulder injury early on in his loan at Ross County and was back at Chelsea for rehabilitation. Not only did he have expert advice from the physios, Cech was on hand to provide some tips having suffered a similar problem during his esteemed career. Sterling, who picked up a hamstring strain at Wigan, provided further insight. “When you’re injured, there’s a loan section and a first-team section (at Cobham). But most of the time, we integrate together and even though we won’t have the same programmes, we’ll be in the gym and outdoors together. “When I was outdoors, I was working with Victor Moses before he went back to Inter Milan. Me and him were on a similar programme, so we did similar drills outside. That’s what Chelsea try to do — they don’t want you to do things by yourself. That’s when people feel like they’re not wanted.” As well as contact with their respective loan coaches, there is a general WhatsApp group. This mainly comprises of special moments which the staff want to highlight, like a goal or assist, for everyone to see and applaud. It means there isn’t that much chat on the channel. More light-hearted or personal exchanges are up to the players themselves to arrange. There are two occasions every year though when the hub they all share explodes into life. “Oh, the main WhatsApp group is always busy during the transfer window,” says Blackman. “Around those times, when people are moving, it’s buzzing with lots of messages as loan moves are being arranged. We find out who is off and where. Everyone enjoys that.” Living away from home The first taste of independence can be exhilarating and nerve-wracking. Things are easy during training sessions when they are doing what they love but how do players fill the time in those hours afterwards — with friends and family miles away? “If I’m not watching football, I’m watching Netflix or on my PS4,” Chalobah says. “I had my own apartment in Huddersfield. I’m comfortable in my own company. I love being on my own. “I missed the home-cooked meals the most, the African dishes my family would make. But there is a family WhatsApp group, which my brother Nathaniel (at Watford) is also on, and we talked regularly. “I watched Chelsea when they were on TV. I am really close to Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham. We played a lot in the youth team and won a lot of trophies. I spoke to Mason and Tammy pretty much every day, we are tight.” There is one thing Chalobah doesn’t leave to chance though and that is his haircut. His distinctive style, with dreadlocks bleached blonde on one side, needs special treatment. “My hairdresser comes up from London and does it,” he says with a smile. “I do give him a tip! If I have a few days off, I will go down there. It takes about three hours to do. I wouldn’t trust my hair with anyone else. He was the one that came up with this style. I have had it for three years now. It’s my identity. It helps me stand out on the pitch.” Brown counts Huddersfield as one of his six loans since 2013. As a veteran of the process, the attacking midfielder is more accustomed to packing his bags, although chose Luton this time around because the home he shares with his partner and two kids is nearby. An anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in 2018 led him to start exploring other methods of healing on top of what Chelsea were advising — he read a book series called The Secret. But it was at Luton, while recovering from a hamstring injury which was expected to keep him out for three months, that Brown discovered something remarkable. “Now I do this healing thing at night with my brain,” he says. “It’s kind of a meditation thing. So before a game, you just imagine different things happening to your body. How you’re feeling. “I first started it when I did my hamstring (in November) and I couldn’t walk. I was on crutches. Someone told me about this healing technique and I was prepared to try anything. He told me I’d feel a bit sick the day after. This isn’t a book, though. I got sent a text and I just read it in my head. The next day, my throat was bad, I couldn’t swallow anything. It was really weird. But two days later, I was off crutches, I could walk and had no pain. I was back training after six weeks when I should have been out for three months.” Inevitably, football skills aren’t the only things being put to the test. What these young men can do in the kitchen is put under the microscope. “You mature quicker because you start having to do things for yourself,” says Sterling. “I had 17 or 18 years of my mum doing everything for me. I’m an alright cook — before I had a chef, but I’ve been cooking myself recently. My mum’s been helping me with certain dishes on the phone. “This season, I’ve changed the way I eat. I didn’t really take it seriously before but now it’s something I’m fully focused on and I try to make it more balanced and healthy. I think it’s making me stronger, even in terms of general health. Last year, I was ill quite a lot and this year I haven’t missed a day of training through illness.” Surely, for those like Blackman, who has been sent to seven teams overall, the process of packing and unpacking regularly is a little draining? “It does feel like I’ve been on the road a lot,” the 26-year-old concedes. “But everywhere I’ve gone has been very welcoming. I like travelling and seeing new places, anyway. I’ve played in other countries which is a positive. It does help. I am moving a lot but you get settled. My mother is getting a bit fed up having to keep putting my stuff into boxes, though!” All seem to be in agreement that despite just signing on a temporary basis, the dressing rooms they walk into attempt to make them feel part of the group. In Nartey’s and Baxter’s case, they have lived with team-mates, so their adaption to new surroundings has been made fairly comfortably. From boys to men One thing these guys have in common is being part of a dominant academy at youth level. No English club has won more. There have been 21 trophies over the past decade. Domination has become second nature, so going on loan provides a culture shock. “Physically, it’s tougher,” Gallagher declares. “You’re playing against grown men. They’re stronger than what I’m used to. “On the ball, you don’t get as much time. In the youth system at Chelsea, we always had more of the ball and we had loads of time, so it was easier. You’ve just got to get used to the speed of the play, which I think I’ve done quite well — but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. “One of the important things that Joe Edwards tried to get into us last season as the under-23s, was that we needed to get ready for men’s football — League One, Championship, wherever we’d go. In training, he might just boot it on and make us try to win the header and battle for second balls, to make it more realistic. “There are loads of things — dealing with longer balls — that we’re not used to as Chelsea players but we’re going to have to get used to if we’re going to go on loan.” Sterling continues: “You can definitely see the difference in level and quality. The best thing I’ve learned this season is staying 100 per cent focused during games. There are top players in the Championship who can punish you straight away if you have a lack of concentration. “Physically I’d say it’s more demanding. When I was at Coventry in League One, there were games where I’d get through 60 minutes and then could cruise through the last 30. But in the Championship, I need to be on it for the full 90. I’ve been taking the gym and strength training much more seriously. Before, I didn’t really like doing it. I wasn’t motivated for it but now I am.” There is also the reality check of coming across veterans who have long since given up their dream of making it at the highest level and the vast riches it can bring. “You’re playing with people now who need to win — for the bonuses because they’ve got families,” says Nartey. “You can feel the difference of how much more it hurts when they lose and what it means when they win. You feel that pressure on you to perform in every game. In under-23s, you want to play as well as you can but it’s not like coming here and seeing the passion.” At Plymouth, Grant believes he has been taken out of the comfort zone. He joined Chelsea at the age of seven and has benefited from the best facilities money can buy. He was captain of the under-19s, which beat Real Madrid on the way to reaching the UEFA Youth League Final in 2018, a competition the club won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016. He says: “I would say you learn more from a League Two game. On a technical level you learn more against Real Madrid’s kids because obviously they will have some of the best youngsters in Europe. But it is more mentally challenging when you play a senior game. You also learn about yourself, your body, how to adapt, to recover. “In the academy, everything is given to you in a way. You get the best advice, the luxury of top food. The budgets are different, so there is obviously a big difference in what is provided. It’s the same ideas but there is a lot less to choose from. We still have breakfast and lunch provided at Plymouth but you’d get two options whereas at Chelsea, you have 10 different dishes. It makes you hungrier to push yourself back to that level because it is so good, all the facilities. “You are kind of in a bubble in the academy. Going on loan is also about life experience — to mingle with different people who don’t have that celebrity title. They are regular people playing football. It is their livelihood. At Plymouth, I have to do a lot more for myself.” There is the rather uncomfortable scenario of being targeted for abuse by opponents. Naturally, seeing a rookie from Chelsea’s academy is deemed an opportunity for some people to test their mettle. “Stuff gets said to me all the time,” says Chalobah. “A lot of them do it in this league. I hear a lot of things. I just block it out and focus on the team. They will refer to my age and stuff like that.” Not all criticism is designed to have a detrimental affect. Brown found former Luton captain Alan Sheehan on his case after apologising to fans on Twitter for a bad performance against QPR. “He messaged me saying, ‘I don’t want to see you write a tweet like that ever again. You know what you can do. Just keep believing. We know how good you are.’ “Leeds was the hardest time because after coming back from a year out with the ACL, I was ready to play, I was fit but I wasn’t getting picked. I was getting angry. It was affecting me on the training pitch. “It felt like I was working hard for no reason. There wasn’t much Chelsea could do. You’re on your own then, really. Chelsea don’t pick the team. If the manager (Marcelo Bielsa) isn’t selecting you, it’s on you. It’s not Chelsea’s problem. It’s only you that can get out of the problem.” Are Chelsea doing anything wrong? The hierarchy don’t think so. The FIFA transfer ban, which was reduced to one window on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for breaching rules over the signing of foreign youngsters, put their practices in the spotlight again. Chelsea always maintained their innocence but from this sizeable setback came the sight of former loanees Andreas Christensen, Fikayo Tomori, Kurt Zouma, Reece James, Abraham and Mount all playing regularly under Lampard. Another eight academy graduates featured, too. The way Chelsea have been perceived in the media regarding loans has mystified those involved. Grant says, “It’s not what it looks like from the outside. Are there too many negative headlines? Yes, definitely. “You have to look at the amount of players who have come through the academy and are getting the chance to play football at the top level. It’s an achievement in itself. Yes, you may not make it at Chelsea but you will get the chance to be a professional footballer. “I have always seen loans as something they do to help a player. The main goal is to get someone in the first team but the realism of it is not everyone will do that. “I would never say it’s just a money thing. It really is like a family there. You might not make it for them but they will always help you make it somewhere. “I experienced that first-hand when Plymouth wanted to sign me permanently in January. People were saying, ‘Here’s my number, call me.’ If I left for good, they were saying, ‘Please still call us.’ Just because I’m not at Chelsea anymore, it didn’t mean I had to stop calling for advice and so on.” One of the biggest stories Chelsea have been mocked for is their link with Vitesse Arnhem. It all began in 2010 when Abramovich’s friendship with then owner Alexander Chigirinsky effectively turned the Dutch side into a feeder club. Over the past decade, 28 Chelsea personnel have been sent there — the last of which was Blackman for the first half of this season, although he didn’t make a single appearance due to spending most of his tenure recovering fitness after a broken leg. One wonders if being sent to Vitesse Arnhem is regarded as a bit of a joke among the youth players, that it’s almost a case of taking it in turns to go there. Far from it. Blackman says: “Obviously, a lot of players have gone to Vitesse — there is a strong link between the clubs. But people seem to forget the standard of football that Chelsea players are playing in — up against teams like Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. We all see it as an advantage to go out there. “Playing football anywhere is a positive — that’s all we want to do. It’s a good league. If you show what you can do there, it’s a good thing. Just look at what’s happened to Mount. “The players out there are welcoming to the Chelsea lads. I knew some of the players before I went out there because I’d met them through some of the other Chelsea players who had been on loan there before. It’s easy to integrate for a Chelsea player there.” The notion that Chelsea’s model is one to be sneered at or treated with suspicion is not a view the loanees share. “I will always say it’s a good thing,” Baxter, who won five player of the year awards at Yeovil in League Two last season, argues. “It’s helped me. It’s helped a lot of players. It is a stepping stone for anyone coming from the academy looking to get into first-team football. You will always need games and experience behind you. “The support they give me is second to none. I feel a big difference from the way I’m treated at Chelsea to the way other clubs treat their loanees. Managers are blown away by the amount Chelsea come and watch me. “I know that I can pick up the phone if there is an issue and they will help me. I feel part of it. I don’t feel that I’m on loan and anyone has forgotten me. I know, from talking to players from other clubs, that they sometimes don’t feel like that. “I have now played 135 matches, which is a lot for a keeper at my age. It has given me the belief that I can play for Chelsea.” Lampard’s presence and his willingness to give youth a chance has also helped improve the self-belief of all those involved. Blackman concludes: “Being around the loan system for so long, I’ve seen players come and go but you can see a new direction the club is going in. There are more homegrown players going out on loan from the academy and trying to make a name for themselves. There is more focus on developing homegrown players, developing English talent. “I don’t think Chelsea should be criticised for it. It’s a chance for players to get out and play. Not everyone makes it at Chelsea. Going on loan helps. You go through a number of leagues across Europe and you will see a player from Chelsea there. It shows how Chelsea do produce good players of their own. Football is evolving.” So what does the future hold? Of the eight we spoke to, half have contracts with a year or less left. Only Gallagher, Sterling, Baxter and Chalobah have the comfort of more than that although negotiations over extensions are bound to take place with some. In all likelihood, Chelsea will attempt to move many of this season’s 30 loanees on sooner or later but it doesn’t faze them. Take Grant’s stance as an indication. “I’ve started to think I will have to go elsewhere,” he says. “That crosses everyone’s mind. “Coming up through Chelsea, you have a dream of playing for the first team but the reality is that it’s very hard to do, so you have to consider taking a different route to come back. “People see my loan to Plymouth as dropping down from Chelsea to League Two — but there is more to it than that. I don’t see it as a disappointment. You have to be positive, otherwise you will just crumble. “There are a number of players who have played at League Two level and even lower and got to the top. That is enough motivation. Other people have done it, why can’t I?” With his 27th birthday in October, the need for Blackman to finally leave for good is likely as well. “I’m coming to an age now where I want to settle and play regularly, to fight and keep the job as No 1,” he says. “You never know where it will be.” For other individuals though, the ability to go elsewhere on loan is something they’re looking forward, too. Baxter will surely benefit should Blackman depart by climbing higher in the pecking order. “It’s important to play matches, especially for a keeper,” says Baxter. “Any season the aim is to play regularly and as high a level as possible. I may have to sacrifice one to get the other, but I’m extremely confident. “I will go back to Chelsea in pre-season, work hard every day to show I’m ready if called upon, and then play as high a level as I can. I back myself to play in the Premier League and the Championship. It’s about earning that opportunity and if you get the chance, take it. To use the five loans and take that into the next one.” With Cesar Azpilicueta and James in situ at right-back for the first XI, Sterling has set his sights on using Chelsea’s expertise to find him another temporary base. “I’ll sit down with Frank in the summer but personally, I want to go on another loan next season because this one has been disrupted by injury,” Sterling reveals. “I want a full year of 30-40 games and then see where it takes me. “But what is happening at Chelsea shows that everyone has a chance, whereas before maybe one out of 50 of us might get into the squad. Now, the door is open — if you’re good enough on loan, you’ll play.” After hearing the testimonies of these eight men, will Chelsea’s loan methods start to be seen in a more positive light?

Friday May 8 2020 Football Nerd Why we must use our eyes as well as stats to judge goalkeepers By Daniel Zeqiri Where does David de Gea stand in the pantheon of great goalkeepers? CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES Through football's coronavirus hiatus, we are committed to providing a weekly newsletter of facts, analysis and retrospectives. If there is a topic you want us to cover please email [email protected]. Above all, stay safe. The subject for this week's newsletter comes from one of our readers, so thanks to Neil H who asks: "There is lots of speculation and argument over who has been or is the best goalkeeper to grace the Premier League. What do you guys think and what do the stats say?" Evaluating goalkeepers and defenders using statistics is a really interesting subject, and a troublesome one for scouting teams within the game. It is no coincidence that Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, two of the greatest managers from the Premier League era, made several boo-boos in this department. Attacking players produce quantifiable output - shots, key passes, assists, expected goals and so on - that can be used to analyse their quality in a relatively straightforward way. This is not true of defenders and goalkeepers. Goals, assists, and key passes have universal value and a clear outcome in a way tackles, clearances or saves do not. Often these rudimentary measures are simply a reflection of how much work a defender or goalkeeper gets through. For instance, you might recall a young Ben Foster thriving on loan at relegated Watford in 2006-7 when he was peppered with shots, but struggling at Manchester United when his concentration was tested due to long spells of inactivity. Goalkeepers in poor teams will make plenty of saves. Petr Cech holds the record for Premier League clean sheets with 202, while Pepe Reina holds the record for clean sheet ratio with 134 in 291 appearances: 46.05 per cent. Both were fantastic goalkeepers at their peak, but also played for well-drilled Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez defences in an era of conservative tactics. How much should that influence our judgement? If we go on save percentage, the top 10 goalkeepers in Premier League history are as follows (based on those with 100 appearances or more): Cech stands out again, as does Edwin van der Sar. But do we really believe Marcus Hahnemann and Manuel Almunia are in the best 10 goalkeepers in Premier League history? Of course not, which demonstrates the difficulty of evaluating goalkeepers using stats alone. Readers will surely be shouting the name Peter Schmeichel at their phone or laptop - the goalkeeper you would expect to win a public poll on this subject - but his time at Manchester United came before Opta started collecting stats like save percentages. Schmeichel was an integral part of several title wins and his style influenced a generation of goalkeepers, so I would not object to those who argue he was the best. Today, there are more sophisticated metrics for measuring goalkeeper performance such as Opta's Expected Goals on Target metric. XGoT, unlike plain old Expected Goals, is a post-shot model. That means it takes into account not just the location and quality of the shot, but the goalmouth location where the shot finishes. XGoT throws out all the attempts that end up off target regardless of their xG value. That makes it a useful metric for assessing goalkeepers, because counting all the shots that do not test them could prove misleading. Moreover, it paints a more accurate picture of goalkeepers' performances on long-range efforts. A shot from 30 yards might have an xG value of 0.03, meaning any goal from that range reflects badly on a goalkeeper statistically. As we all know however, there are occasional shots from distance that leave goalkeepers with little chance, and XGoT takes that into account. For example, Daniel Sturridge's goal at Stamford Bridge last season had an xG value of 0.03, but registered 0.58 on XGoT because it was so perfectly placed into the top corner. According to this measure, the top five goalkeepers in the Premier League currently are: Vicente Guaita, Martin Dubravka, Dean Henderson, Hugo Lloris and Ben Foster. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Guaita has kept out 9.6 more goals than you would expect. But surely they are not better goalkeepers than Alisson or Ederson, I hear you ask? In short, assessing goalkeepers is difficult and remains quite subjective. Maybe we just need to use our eyes.

Yep, Mertens and Chilwell are the only two 100% certain targets we have. I trust nothing about any other players, and we may not end up getting either Dries nor Ben. Fucking shame Boga is not left footed and is a pure LWer. I am now 65% certain we are going to renew Willian, due to COVID-19. Hell, maybe even Pedro too, lolol. Mertens is a massive improvement over Bats (at least for a year or 2) and Chilwell if we pull him at a fair price is an upgrade at LB, for sure, and lets us finally dump Emerson, even at a semi-shit price. Anet spend on Chilwell of say £30m (50m minus 20m for Emerson) is oki business (NOT great) We are fucking insane if we spend £60m net or even more (80m minus 20m or even less) on him. I do hope we grab a decent backup keeper on the cheap as well. I expect nothing more to happen, and will not be shocked if NOTHING happens even in regards to the 3 things I just listed. Mertens could tell us to piss off, Leicester could play true hardball on the sale price for Chilwell, and we might no like the prices we are quoted for a decent backup keeper.

Borussia Dortmund's Nnamdi Collins 'rejects Chelsea transfer' 16 year old, 1.89m CB, Germany U16 Captain (we are now up to talking about 2004-born players, so born after Roman bought the team, lolol, tempus fugit) A shame, he might have been an absolute STEAL. https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/chelsea/transfer-talk/news/nnamdi-collins-rejects-chelsea-transfer_398812.html Chelsea have reportedly failed with their bid to sign Borussia Dortmund youngster Nnamdi Collins. While Frank Lampard has made a conscious effort to promote a number of academy graduates into the first-team picture, that has not stopped the Blues from scouting the globe for other prospects. According to Bild, the Premier League giants have recently expressed an interest in Collins, who is starring in the youth ranks at the Westfalenstadion. However, the 16-year-old has snubbed the chance to move to Stamford Bridge, instead wishing to continue his development in Germany. The report suggests that Dortmund have assured that teenager that he will be provided with game time in the senior team at a later date. Chelsea had allegedly been willing to pay at least €1m (£870,000) for Collins. snip BVB extend Nnamdi Collins' contract until 2023 https://www.bvb.de/eng/News/Overview/BVB-extend-Nnamdi-Collins-contract-until-2023 Borussia Dortmund have retained one of Germany's top talents, U17 player Nnamdi Collins, with an eye to the future. The 16-year-old defender has been with the Black & Yellows since 2016 and has already featured in the U17 Bundesliga this term. Collins, who could still play another season in the U17s, will play in the U19 Bundesliga from next season. Speaking about the contract extension, youth coordinator Lars Ricken said: "We're very happy that in Nnamdi, BVB have retained the services of an outstanding talent in German youth football for the long term." Sporting director Michael Zorc added: "We want to gradually ease Nnamdi towards the professional squad and give him the time to develop." Nnamdi Collins appears enthusiastic about the prospects awaiting him in Dortmund. "I've now been playing for BVB since I was 12 and I owe the club a lot. My objective is to turn professional at BVB and to play in front of the South Stand at some point. I'm really thankful for the way that all of my previous coaches, my family and my advisors have supported me, and I'm really looking forward to the coming years at BVB."

Courtois is actually right there is no WAY you can give the title to Barca with 11 games left and a two point lead, and Real coming on hard and Barca playing meh null and void it, or play it out

goes to show stats can flatter to deceive at times if Alonso just had Azpi or Rudiger level pace he would be far more up my rating chart, but he is so so fucking slow, and it kills his defence I have no clue why he is so slow, he is tall, lanky and both his father and grandfather (a SUPERB fullback for Real back in their 1950s peak days) were quite pacy Marquitos, his grandfather

completely agree the others are good or great loved this one, super cool

King Willian? a bit much

We have multiple players who the best in the world at their positions for a period of time whilst they were at Chelsea Lampard at AMF Terry at CB Claude Makélélé at DMF (partially at Real Madrid) Kante at DMF Ashley Cole at LB (partially at Arse) you could make a case for Cech at times (Buffon though,and Neuer and Casillas as well), and also one can make a case for Drogba at pure CF a couple years split up (Drogba peaked after Henry's last all world year) KDB is by FAR the best AMF in the world atm, but none of this occurred here (FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK)

SPFL directors hit back at Rangers, Hearts face drop with restructure off Statement dismisses Rangers complaints as ‘self-serving’ Proposals for three-tier league system are abandoned https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/08/spfl-directors-hit-back-at-rangers-and-self-serving-stewart-robertson Directors of the Scottish Professional Football League have snapped back at allegations raised in a dossier issued by Rangers and urged clubs not to back calls for an independent investigation into the handling of a vote to abandon this season. Rangers, who last month called for the suspension of the SPFL’s chief executive and legal adviser, distributed an extensive document to fellow league members on Thursday as they seek to win the 75% support needed at Tuesday’s extraordinary general meeting to trigger an inquiry. Rangers raised a series of questions over the conduct and governance of the SPFL, whose board was firm in its recommendation the season vote should pass. A letter signed by eight of the SPFL’s nine directors – Rangers’ managing director, Stewart Robertson, was a notable absentee – said: “The vast majority of the SPFL board members continue to have complete confidence in our chief executive and legal counsel. “Eight of the nine members of your board of directors continue to believe the demand for an open-ended, hugely time-consuming and expensive investigation to be wholly unnecessary, inappropriate and contrary to the interests of the company and Scottish football at what is such a critical time for every club’s survival. We therefore urge you to vote against the resolution at our EGM on Tuesday.” Robertson, who has said he and Rangers have “lost confidence” in the individuals running the organisation, was also a target for his fellow directors. “It is enormously frustrating to see one of our number launch baseless, damaging and self-serving attacks on the board,” read the letter. The directors branded the current saga as an “unwelcome, self-serving distraction”. snip the SPFL is in shambles I think the EPL needs to seriously look into bringing in Celtic and Rangers into it all the rest of the Scottish teams are jokes hell even Hearts looks to be going down, and Hibs are shit

Premier League clubs to debate whether to dump VAR for rest of season https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/08/premier-league-clubs-to-debate-whether-to-dump-var-for-rest-of-season-five-substitutions-ifab Ifab gives green light but clubs expected to stick with it Vote needed on whether to allow five substitutions Premier League clubs will debate whether to dump VAR for the remainder of the season – if it can be completed – after the International Football Association Board (Ifab) said that individual competitions can do so if they want to. The clubs, who will hold a conference call on Monday, must also vote on another Ifab temporary amendment – whether to agree to the use of five substitutes in matches. It is not thought that the clubs will veto the use of VAR partly because, until the Ifab announcement, it had not been on the agenda. The clubs agreed to introduce the technology for this season and it could be argued that a move away from it for the final matches would compromise the integrity of the competition. Furthermore, it would seem strange to remove a feature of the game that would return at the start of the following season. There has been the suggestion that dropping VAR would make it slightly easier to plan for the resumption of play but it has no material impact on the staging of games from a logistical standpoint. If clubs agree to extra substitutions, each side will have three opportunities, excluding half-time, to make changes. Fifa said the measure could be applied in competitions that finish before the end of 2020. “The temporary amendment comes into force with immediate effect,” it said, “and has been made as matches may be played in a condensed period in different weather conditions, both of which could have impacts on player welfare.” snip

Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic suffers freak foot injury while training at home Heel fracture discovered on striker’s return to training centre Injury adds to difficult first season in Spain for €65m signing https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/09/real-madrid-forward-luka-jovic-suffers-freak-foot-injury-while-training-at-home The Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic has suffered a foot injury while training at home and is unlikely to be fit for the potential restart of the La Liga season in mid-June. The Spanish club have confirmed that their medical team discovered a fracture in the Serbian striker’s heel bone during routine tests carried out prior to the resumption of individual training on Monday. The as-yet unexplained injury is the latest setback for the 22-year-old, who will be out of action for up to seven weeks. Jovic joined Real from Eintracht Frankfurt last June for an initial €65m (£57.5m) but had scored just two goals all season before football was suspended across Europe in March. Jovic was given permission by his club to return home to Serbia and self-isolate as Spain’s strict anti-coronavirus measures came into force. He was then reportedly caught breaking lockdown rules by going out in Belgrade, leading Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, to threaten him with arrest if he did so again. “I am very sorry that some people did their job unprofessionally and did not give me the correct instructions on how to behave in self-isolation,” Jovic responded in an Instagram post in March. “I apologise to everyone if I have endangered them in some way.” While Real Madrid players are set to resume individual training on Monday, a number of top-flight clubs including their title rivals Barcelona began the four-phase process on Friday. La Liga hopes to complete the current season behind closed doors this summer. snip

Will make no moves or will make some moves?

yep, almost all these reports are more than likely bullshit Mertens and Chilwell interest is real, but zero clue if we actually get either done, especially Chilwell I am fully prepared to not be shocked if we make no moves at all

Russian Billionaire Bosov Dies by Suicide https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/05/07/forbes-billionaire-bosov-dies-by-suicide-a70205 Russian billionaire and coal baron Dmitry Bosov has died by suicide at his home in a Moscow suburb, authorities said Wednesday. Relatives discovered Bosov’s body with gunshot wounds at his home in the luxury village of Usovo in Moscow’s elite suburb of Rublyovka, the country’s Investigative Committee said in a statement. A Glock pistol was found nearby. Bosov didn’t leave a suicide note, the Kommersant business daily reported. Bosov, 52, ranked 86th in Forbes’ list of the richest Russian billionaires with a $1.1 billion net worth. He was a principal shareholder and chairman of the board of Alltech Group, an investment firm that manages anthracite, coal and other energy and real estate companies. Alltech’s Siberian Anthracite, the world’s top anthracite coal exporter, is the general sponsor of Russia’s Night Hockey League, a tournament founded by President Vladimir Putin. Alltech expressed condolences to Bosov’s family and close ones. An unnamed source close to Bosov told the RBC news website that the businessman had been “on edge” recently. “Since the start of the year, he began transferring all assets to himself [and] laying off employees,” the person was quoted as saying. “It got worse in May, everyone thought he was preparing to sell the assets.” snip related background BLIND TRUST — SIBERIAN ANTHRACITE TRIES SELLING ITS SHARES FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME, WITHOUT AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORTS, CONSOLIDATION OF TRADING SCHEMES, OR DISCLOSURE OF OWNERSHIP http://johnhelmer.net/blind-trust-siberian-anthracite-tries-selling-its-shares-for-the-umpteenth-time-without-audited-financial-reports-consolidation-of-trading-schemes-or-disclosure-of-ownership/ snip Siberian Anthracite was asked to identify its auditor; to provide copies of audited financial reports for the past three years; and to clarify the shareholding structure of the company. The disclosures are required for the company to issue a prospectus and sell shares on the London Stock Exchange. The company identified Ernst & Young as its auditor. It refused to provide financial reports or identify the names of its beneficial shareholders. It did identify the Alltech Group as holding 75% of Siberian Anthracite. Alltech says little about itself, and appears to be controlled by Dmitry Bosov. He is a figure who moves in and out of the Russian aluminium story documented during the London High Court trial of Boris Berezovsky’s claims against Roman Abramovich. According to the evidence in that case, Bosov was a partner of Lev and Mikhail Chernoy, and one of the original shareholders of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Plant forced into selling to Abramovich, and ultimately Oleg Deripaska. Alltech was asked to confirm who its shareholders are, and what stakes they hold in Siberian Anthracite. Alltech refused. snip Boris Berezovsky, Russian Oligarch and Critic of Putin Dies in Britain https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/world/europe/boris-a-berezovsky-a-putin-critic-dies-at-67.html MOSCOW — Boris A. Berezovsky, once the richest and most powerful of the so-called oligarchs who dominated post-Soviet Russia, and a close ally of Boris N. Yeltsin who helped install Vladimir V. Putin as president but later exiled himself to London after a bitter falling out with the Kremlin, died Saturday. He was 67 and lived near London, where last year he lost one of the largest private lawsuits in history — an epic tug-of-war over more than $5 billion with another Russian oligarch, Roman A. Abramovich, in which legal and other costs were estimated to be about $250 million. snip The lawsuit, in which Mr. Berezovsky brought a claim against Mr. Abramovich in a dispute over the sale of shares in Sibneft, an oil company, and other assets, ended in a spectacular defeat. snip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Berezovsky_(businessman)#Death On 23 March 2013, Berezovsky was found dead at his home,[199] Titness Park, at Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire.[22] His body was found by a bodyguard in a locked bathroom, with a ligature around his neck.[200][201][202] His death was announced in a post on Facebook by his son-in-law. Alexander Dobrovinsky, a lawyer who had represented Berezovsky, wrote that he may have committed suicide,[203] adding that Berezovsky had fallen into debt after losing the lawsuit against Abramovich, and had spent the final few months of his life selling his possessions to cover his court costs.[204] Berezovsky was also said to have recently been depressed and to have isolated himself from friends.[205][206] He reportedly suffered from depression and was taking antidepressant drugs; a day prior to his death he told a reporter in London that he had nothing left to live for.[207] When Berezovsky's death became known, there was speculation by mainstream British news media that the Russian government may have been involved.[208] The Thames Valley Police classified his death as "unexplained" and launched a formal investigation into the circumstances behind it. Specialists in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials were deployed to Berezovsky's home as a "precaution".[204] These specialists later "found nothing of concern".[209] A post-mortem examination carried out by the Home Office pathologist found the cause of death was consistent with hanging and there was nothing pointing to a violent struggle.[23][210] At the March 2014 inquest into the death, however, Berezovsky's daughter Elizaveta introduced a report by German pathologist Bernd Brinkmann, with whom she had shared the autopsy photos, noting that the ligature mark on her father's neck was circular rather than V-shaped as is commonly the case with hanging victims, and called the coroner's attention to a statement by one of the responding paramedics who found it strange that Berezovsky's face was purple, rather than pale as hanging victims usually are. The body also had a fresh wound on the back of the head and a fractured rib (injuries police believed Berezovsky could have suffered in the process of falling as he hanged himself). Elsewhere in the house, an unidentified fingerprint was found on the shower, and one paramedic's radiation alarm sounded as he entered.[211] Following the inquest the coroner, Peter Bedford, recorded an open verdict commenting, "I am not saying Mr Berezovsky took his own life, I am not saying Mr Berezovsky was unlawfully killed. What I am saying is that the burden of proof sets such a high standard it is impossible for me to say." He specifically cited the Brinkmann report as casting reasonable doubt on the suicide theory, even though Brinkmann had not been able to personally examine the body and could not be considered impartial.[24]

a month old, but I just saw this Abramovich-Built Stadium in Russia Slated for Demolition Over Safety Concerns https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/29/abramovich-built-stadium-in-russia-slated-for-demolition-over-safety-concerns-a65006 An ice hockey stadium built in Siberia by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for an estimated $150 million will now be demolished over safety concerns, 12 years after it was first opened to the public. First inaugurated in 2007 in the Siberian city of Omsk, the arena was donated by Abramovich to the local Avangard Hockey Club in 2012. Last September, an evaluation of Omsk Arena’s structure determined the building was in “emergency condition,” with specialists finding structural defects in 90 percent of surveyed areas, including large cracks in its columns. “It’s clear that what’s here now will be demolished,” Avangard’s chairman Alexander Krylov told journalists Thursday. “A modern arena will be built on this site,” he added. Avangard was forced to relocate three time zones away from its hometown to a stadium near Moscow after structural defects were discovered at Omsk Arena last summer. The club did not reveal the extent and nature of the damage but hinted the decision to move was linked to safety. With the new facility still in the design stage, reports suggest the team is unlikely to return to Omsk before 2021. snip

it was Manchester, what did he expect? poxy shithole

he would be a terror on Barca I think

I think there is a good chance he stays and accepts a 2 year offer (do not shoot the messenger!)

simple NONE well, Matt Law other than him, it is ALL tosh I do not even know why I post articles anymore about targets (from a paper or site) I am sticking to my own scouting and just offering up good choices it really is all bullshit atm I think there is fair chance we buy no one besides Ziyech I will believe it when I see it

lol, the papers are reading my posts Manchester City and Liverpool 'to go head-to-head' in battle to sign KV Mechelen wonderkid Aster Vranckx https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8290643/Manchester-City-Liverpool-head-head-battle-sign-KV-Mechelen-wonderkid-Vranckx.html the fuckers even used the same pic!!

every single site I saw says Alonso is on £100K PW

Serie A’s rising stars: He looks like Pirlo but Tonali’s genius is different https://theathletic.com/1789236/2020/05/03/serie-as-rising-stars-tonali-sandro-brescia-pirlo-psg/ No player challenges our biases more in Italy than Sandro Tonali. “The hair’s to blame,” he would observe. It’s long, often needs a toss of the head to flick it out of his eyesight, and plays a major role in the preconceived ideas forming around him. If the picture isn’t clear enough already, trust me, it will be in a moment. He’s a Lombard, a kid of few words who plays at the base of midfield in the swallow-necked blue and white of Brescia. He probably owns a vineyard and makes his own wine. Hang on a minute? Is he the… No. No he isn’t. Proclaiming Tonali the new Andrea Pirlo is too easy, a little too convenient, even. It speaks to a couple of things. Let’s start with projection. Fans hope to see another Pirlo. Who wouldn’t? Scouts want to say he is the second coming. It’s an easy sell to their sporting director. You also probably need to start thinking about what bringing through a player dubbed the new Pirlo means to a club in Brescia’s circumstances. Teams in Italy are increasingly dependent on TV money and player trading for the revenue they need to stay afloat. And here’s the thing: Tonali feels his game shares more in common with Pirlo’s old team-mate Rino Gattuso. “I’ll give you that,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “He’s someone I’ve always admired. Gattuso was my idol as a kid.” But the next Gattuso, with all due respect, isn’t going to whip up the same amount of hype, sell as many shirts or fetch as much money as the next Pirlo when the transfer window reopens. All of which hasn’t stopped Italy’s top clubs from elbowing each other out of the way to sign him. Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City have also kept abreast of the situation and want to be in the frame when he makes a decision about his future. “It’s not hard to see he’s got talent,” Juventus’ Chief Football Officer Fabio Paratici told Sky Italia. Well, maybe it was harder when Tonali was eight. Twice he trialled with AC Milan. Twice he didn’t make the cut. “Unfortunately, they didn’t think he was ready,” Davide Gatti, the head of the Lombardia Uno soccer school tells The Athletic. “When I say unfortunately I mean it’s unfortunate for them because buying Sandro now will cost them an awful lot of money. But lots of people have made the same mistake with other players. It’s not easy to judge a player and know exactly how they’ll develop at that age.” Lombardia Uno has been affiliated with Milan for more than 20 years. It’s in the Barona neighbourhood, two stops from the end of the city’s green metro line in the direction of Assago. “Maldini’s boys played with us,” Gatti explains. “The youngest one, Daniel; he trains with Milan’s first team (and made his debut in February). A lot of players come through here. On average, I’d say 10 each year go on to sign for professional clubs; Inter, Milan, Torino, a few teams in the second division. Not all of them make it to Serie A like Sandro, though.” Here on the banks of the Naviglio, Gatti’s teams play seven-a-side. Tonali occupied a role in front of the defence even then. “He was setting up goals for everyone right, left and centre,” Gatti recalls. “Sandro played two-touch football. Who does that at seven years old!?” Playing quickly did not mean Tonali was already polished, though. At least not to Gatti’s recollection. “Technically, he did not excel,” he says. “His technique was good — don’t get me wrong — but the tactical side of his game and physicality were his main strengths.” A cut above the rest, Tonali’s coaches at Lombardia Uno were sometimes left with the impression he held himself back so as not to embarrass his team-mates. “He knew how good he was and almost played with the handbrake on,” Gatti claims. It must have been a blow for him when Milan decided against signing him. Tonali’s family are Interisti but when he was at Lombardia Uno, he trained in their rival’s colours. It was the time when Milan got their revenge over Liverpool in Athens and vanquished Boca Juniors in Yokohama to be crowned world champions in 2007. A banner held aloft by Massimo Ambrosini during Milan’s open top bus parade summed it up. “You can stick the Scudetto up your arse,” he told Inter. As with a lot of things though, rejection didn’t faze Tonali. When La Gazzetta asked him if he was disappointed not to join Milan, Tonali was matter of fact in his response. “No,” he said, “I got to go to Piacenza.” Marginally closer to home in Lodi, Tonali attended an academy that, over the years, has given Serie A the Inzaghi brothers and Alessandro Lucarelli. He was on Piacenza’s books until the age of 12 when the club went bust and no longer had the resources to fund a youth sector. Tonali’s coach Gianluca Balestri flagged him up to Brescia and he has been there ever since. “Besides his obvious natural ability, I think Brescia deserve great credit for the manner with which they’ve developed Sandro,” Federico Guidi explains. He can still remember the day he first laid eyes on Tonali. It was the winter of 2016 and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) had selected a pool of players born in the year 2000 for a training camp. The players meeting up in Coverciano, on the leafy outskirts of Florence, had either never been part of the international set-up before or had only played one or two games for the Azzurrini. The purpose of the exercise was simple enough. The FIGC are thorough at the best of times but they didn’t want to miss a thing, particularly any prospects flying under the radar outside the big clubs. Tonali, for instance, did not represent Italy until Guidi, the under-19 coach at the time, got to see him over the course of this three-day try-out. “I was impressed by his tactical intelligence,” Guidi says. “His reading of certain situations was quicker than the other players in his age group. He also had great stamina and natural fitness. He was a complete player. It was unusual to see that in a player his age.” The FIGC started taking a closer interest and not too long afterwards, Tonali, as Guidi recalls it, “burst” on the scene at Brescia. He made his first-team debut in a second division game against Avellino in August 2017. “It was a bit of a disaster,” Tonali recalled. “I came on with 20 minutes left. We were a goal up but a man down after Emanuele Ndoj got sent off. We lost 2-1.” It wasn’t long though before word got around that some Pirlo lookalike was pulling the strings at the Rigamonti. “Sandro’s mainly right-footed,” Guidi says. “But even in those days, he’d use his left and get the team up the pitch with great fluidity. He moved the ball very quickly and alternated playing short with playing long when the circumstances dictated.” I know what you’re thinking. Tonali not only looks like Pirlo — the player Guidi is describing sounds a lot like Pirlo too. But Tonali’s old coach gives the notion short shrift. “All he’s got in common with Pirlo is the hair and the Brescia shirt,” Guidi insists. “Technically speaking, he’s totally different. Sandro does a lot off the ball. He throws himself into tackles. There’s a physical side to his game. I see Daniele De Rossi in him more than I see Pirlo.” On the back of Brescia returning to the top flight for the first time in almost a decade, Tonali was crowned Serie B Player of the Year at the Gran Gala del Calcio. Though voted for by his peers, a source of understandable pride for Sandrino, it still felt like a case of the bandwagon being put in front of the horse. Tonali remains one of the most gossiped-about players in Italy’s sports dailies, not to mention on social media. Everyone wants to know his next move. Brescia’s owner Massimo Cellino resisted the temptation to sell last summer — “not even for crazy money” — and fears that Tonali would be swept away from Italy as Marco Verratti was by PSG in 2012 without ever making an appearance in Serie A never materialised. Playing in the top flight presented Tonali with a different, more exacting challenge, and not just because Cellino — one of Italy’s great mangia-allenatori, or coach-eaters — rediscovered his taste for sacking managers (he’s been through three already this season). Brescia, perhaps unsurprisingly, have less of the ball than they did in second tier. We’re talking an average of 39 per cent, the lowest in Serie A. They are also second for defensive action regains, which brings out the De Rossi-esque qualities Guidi touched on, particularly Tonali’s clever positioning and intuition when it comes to breaking up the play. While he isn’t quite as feisty in the tackle as Pierpaolo Bisoli’s son, Dimitri, StatsBomb data shows the 19-year-old makes more possession-adjusted interceptions than any of Brescia’s other midfielders. Under Eugenio Corini, the Swallows played a direct brand of football, with Tonali completing more long passes per 90 minutes (5.12) than his outfield team-mates. Brescia’s style makes it hard for Tonali to play as a pure regista — the classic deep-lying playmaker role associated with Pirlo. He does not impose himself on games through passing and passing alone. Full-backs Stefano Sabelli (40.04) and Ales Mateju (33.31) make more passes per 90 than Tonali (32.77), as does centre-back Andrea Cistana (34.59). That’s not exactly unusual for teams that build-up from the back. Nevertheless Tonali is composed with the ball at his feet — his pass completion rate drops a single percent when under pressure. Is it any wonder his former coach Roberto Boscaglia said: “The boy has the head of a 50-year-old on his shoulders.” Rather than progress up the pitch as, say, SPAL do, with phases of prolonged possession, Brescia play in transition. In terms of pace towards goal (the average speed of build-up in metres-per-second for possessions that end in shots), only Parma move the ball faster from one end of the pitch to the other. This, partly, explains why Tonali’s pass completion rate (70 per cent) isn’t anything to shout about. Often, he is tasked with playing forward into Brescia’s No 10 or the team’s two strikers; a risky business. What he does stand out in though is deep progressions and carries. Only Sabelli drives Brescia into the final third more often than Tonali. As a chance creator, he is at his most dangerous from set pieces. Tonali leads Brescia in assists (five) but only one of them came from open play and frankly it’s charitable to award it to him considering all he did was lay the ball off for Ernesto Torregrossa to hit a screamer from 35 yards against Cagliari. The rest are all indicative of his wicked delivery from corners and free kicks. Tonali’s first Serie A goal was supposed to be a cross aimed at the far post. Unintentionally, the strike looped over Genoa’s Ionut Radu and quite spectacularly snuck under the bar. On occasions when there’s a free kick in a more central position close to goal, Mario Balotelli and Jaromir Zmrhal tend to get the nod over Tonali. At the moment, there is no sign of his own take on Pirlo’s famous maledetta, his signature free kick style. Still, Tonali has continued to shine in a poor team. The box office ticket at the Rigamonti was supposed to be Balotelli returning to Italy to inspire his hometown club to a mid-table finish. People watch Brescia for Tonali instead. He made his debut for Italy against Liechtenstein last October and with the Euros moving to next summer, he now has an extra year to dislodge one of Jorginho, Nicolo Barella and Verratti in the Azzurri’s midfield. Tonali started Italy’s last two qualifiers with Roberto Mancini deploying him next to Jorginho as a double pivot. The Italy boss believes Tonali “has the physical attributes to play on the left or the right as an No 8” and, ever willing to prove a point, used him on one side against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the other against Armenia. “He can cover every position in midfield,” Guidi says. Asked for a memory of Tonali, he remembers calling him up for the Under-19 Euros (with Moise Kean and Nicolo Zaniolo) when he was already a first-team regular at Brescia and in the orbit of Italy’s under-21s. “A lot of kids in that situation get a bit big-headed and aren’t as motivated when they come back down a level. They can act like a prima donna. But that’s not Sandro. He arrived and was immediately a leader. He set the example. The games that players tend to find hardest to get up for — in our case Estonia and Finland, neither of whom were as good as us — well, he approached them as if they were as big as they come and of huge significance.” In the end Italy reached the final, succumbing to Portugal 4-3 only after extra time. Cellino sees the same humility. “Sandro has the modesty of one of those holding midfielders, with two left feet but the talent of a world-class player,” he told Tuttosport. You can bet the former Cagliari and Leeds owner will drive a hard bargain for him in the summer. Maybe not too hard, though. “Whoever wants Tonali will have to show me and the boy some love,” Cellino said. “I ask that they show us respect, time their move right, and don’t end up distracting him. This matters more to me than the money. That was the case with Radja Nainggolan at Cagliari. Juve offered more than anyone else but Roma wanted him more.” Tonali isn’t the next Pirlo. But guess what — we’ll probably be back here in 10 or 15 years’ time asking: “Who is the next Tonali?”