Piet de Visser is still a Chelsea scout and personal adviser to Roman Abramovich, even at the ripe old age of 85.
The Dutch man has a history of being a bit of a master scout and does not use statistics to report on players, he merely goes by the eye, and what a good eye he has.
He is responsible for discovering some of the best players the world has seen including Neymar, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo (Brazilian), Kevin de Bruyne and David Luiz, as reported by Sport Bible.
He has recently been speaking to de Volkskrant ahead of Chelsea’s match against Ajax this evening, and he certainly hasn’t been holding back!
He has revealed that the reason Callum Hudson-Odoi didn’t sign an extension at Chelsea was because of Maurizio Sarri.
He said:
“Hudson-Odoi, oooooo. He didn’t want to sign. I told Chelsea: never lose Hudson-Odoi. That will be the new Hazard.
“But Marina said: he doesn’t want to sign. And you know why not? Because Sarri didn’t play him. Then Sarri was instructed to play him. He was the best. And he signed for four years.”
He has also revealed that Chelsea actually had plans to sell current Premier League top goal scorer Tammy Abraham, but he advised them agains that, de Visser continued:
“Tammy Abraham, the striker. They wanted to sell them. Hey no. That is the new attack leader for Chelsea.
“He was always a little lanky. Now it is getting a bit spicier. He passes, scores, has an acceleration. And he plays. Not Batshuayi, not Giroud. No, Abraham.”
de Visser knows Lampard well, and was pinnacle in Chelsea taking him on as manager this summer, he reveals:
“Frank Lampard was like a brother to me when he was a Chelsea player. He and John Terry always took hold of me. Lampard is a special type. He doesn’t talk much, but he is a boss. He sees football well.
“I followed him at Derby County. I wrote to Marina. He plays fantastic football.”
And yes, de Visser IS still out scouting for Chelsea, as he reveals here:
“My reports go to the scouting committee and to Marina. They love the way I scout. Completely descriptive, without all kinds of statistics. How many passes? Well, I don’t count width passes. Only real passes. I use my own system.”
“I am at all scouting meetings. Forty scouts in uniform. We have talents, not normal. Billy Gilmour, watch him.
“The academy in Cobham is beautiful, with thirty fields, kitchen, hospital, everything. Tip top. The coaches at the academy are among the best youth trainers in the world.”
His love for Lampard is clear, as he continues and brings up Jose Mourinho:
“I’m always dressed in blue when Chelsea plays. Ajax – Chelsea, that will be two great matches. Lampard is going to play football, and Ajax too. I love offensive football.
“With coaches like Mourinho and Conte I got along quite well, but I always had a fight with them. Attack now, deploy young people. Then Mourinho said: ‘ I don’t care for good football. I want to win. I want to be the number one in the world. I, I, I. ” Then I said, it’s Chelsea, it is not I .”
de Visser has big hopes for Chelsea’s future with the young guns coming through, he said:
“We’ll get a team within two years, pffff. And many more players are coming.
“I already made the team for myself: Reece James right back, Tomori stopper. In midfield Loftus-Cheek, Mount. Then we will keep Kanté there. In the front Hudson-Odoi, with Abraham and Pulisic.”
What a guy!
