Maurizio Sarri was not particularly successful in the integration of youth during his time at Chelsea – and the Telegraph have offered some insight into why that is.
While Sarri did give Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi chances from the start towards the end of the season, he resisted as long as he possibly could have done.
Whenever either of the pair were on the field of play, they impressed. Yet, Sarri insisted on remaining ignorant to that and instead picking players on what could only have been merit.
In fact, it doesn’t look as though Sarri had even the remotest interest in integrating our younger players, at least that’s what information provided by the Telegraph suggests to us.
It’s claimed in their report that Sarri did not attend one Chelsea U-23 training session or match during his year in charge of the Blues. There’s absolutely no excuse for that.
Sarri insisted throughout the season that his primary intention was to protect our youngsters, hence his puzzling treatment of Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi.
However, this new information suggests that he just couldn’t be bothered to take time to develop our gems. He clearly never saw the relationship lasting beyond the first season.
