Chelsea

Andreas Christensen defends Chelsea youth system

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 26 July 2017

Andreas Christensen insists that Chelsea's academy does help the developing players, despite the majority of them failing to make it into the first team.

Andreas Christensen has given his backing to Chelsea's youth system after the club faced criticism for selling their developing stars.

This summer alone, the Premier League champions have sold Dominic Solanke, Bertrand Traore and Nathan Ake, but some reportedly had buyback clauses inserted in their deals.

Last season, the Blues sent 38 players on loan, one of whom was Christensen, who has spent the last two years at Borussia Monchengladbach.

According to the London Evening Standard, when asked if he thought that Chelsea's academy helps the young players, Christensen said: "I'd like to think so. Some people say that they just abandon you, that they don't keep an eye on you, but that is definitely not true.

"There is [loan technical coach] Eddie Newton and [assistant] Paulo Ferreira doing a great job and they visited me quite a few times.

"They would also send me videos of my games, telling me where to improve. I always watched those videos, would take the advice on board and take it into the next game, even though sometimes I'd forget another thing. I got all the help I needed."

Christensen joined Chelsea's academy from Brondby in 2012.