Daily Times

“If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow. Young people will always manage to achieve the impossible – whether that is on the football field or inside a company or other big organisation,” Alex Ferguson stated in his autobiography, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United. It’s no secret that the Premier League’s greatest manager who led Manchester United to 13 league titles, had a strong trust in youth. The increasing competitiveness of England’s first division has provided some entertaining football, but, at the same time, it seems to be taking away youngster’s futures and restricting the already minimal chances they receive. With loan deals for upcoming talents becoming increasingly prevalent in the league, often, teams have had to face the dilemma of players realising their potential to play first-team elsewhere, and handing in a transfer request. One of the more recent examples of this is Andreas Pereira’s want to leave Manchester United in the summer transfer window just gone, where he realised that at Spanish club, Valencia, where he was on loan last season, he could have the opportunity to play more often. For the English clubs, this is a negative occurrence which can lead to them losing their best talents to competitors from other leagues. In August 2017, Jadon Sancho left Manchester City and signed for Borussia Dortmund on a permanent basis. But it’s not just him who’s been successful in the Bundesliga, a youth friendly league, but also Ademola Lookman and Reiss Nelson to name a couple. Whilst the Premier League has become fully commercialized, the shift in culture, and fear of playing youngsters hasn’t been entirely completed, and could still be prevented.

Published in Daily Times, December 30^th 2018.