Caughtoffside have today reported on Arsenal interest in Ryan McAidoo, one of shining lights of Chelsea’s acadmy.
The youngster has now played for England U16 and U17 teams in the last year, and looks to be progressing through the ranks nicely. But Fabrizio Romano and other sources are reporting that he’s “expected” to leave Chelsea this summer, with the Gunners “leading the race.”
He’s a quick and lively attacking player, a bit of a rough diamond, but that’s to be expected at his age. He’s got tons of potential, and it would be a huge blow to the academy to lose him just as he’s getting close to the stage where they will start to be paid back for their years of investment in his talent.
A worrying trend continues
This continues a worrying trend we’ve seen a few times in recent years .The case of Jamal Musiala stings the most because he’s so quickly developed into a genuine superstar, but there are others in the pipeline.
Just a week ago we wrote about a similar situation with Rio Nguhoma, and while there is still reportedly “confidence” that the 15 year old will be persuaded to stay, we’re not so sure. It’s inevitable you’re going to lose some talents like this at youth level, simply because it’s impossible to keep them all happy. But we don’t want it becoming a trend – that sends some worrying messages about what families who are part of the academy think about their pathway.
On the other hand, it’s not long since we poached Omari Hutchinson in a similar way from Arsenal, and we already look guaranteed to bank major profit on that. So we can’t deny, it’s a two way street – we just need to make sure we’re getting the best out of these deals.