Chelsea
boss Antonio Conte has defended his record at nurturing young talent but
insists they have to earn their opportunities.
Having admitted new signings are needed to help retain the Premier League
title with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Drinkwater on top of his list,
Conte has been criticised for allowing several young stars leave Stamford
Bridge.
Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kurt Zouma and Ola Aina have gone out on
loan, while Nathaniel Chalobah, recently called up for England's senior
squad, and Nathan Ake have moved to Watford and Bournemouth.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's showdown with Everton, Conte said: "I put Paul
Pogba at 18 into the Juventus team, for Claudio Marchisio. But you must have
players who are ready to play regularly with Chelsea, a great team.
"Otherwise, it's very difficult to make this decision. You must decide if
you want to fight for the title or develop your young players. Two different
ways.
"Show me young players who deserve to play regularly for Chelsea and I'm
ready to pick them. Don't forget my first game in Serie A, I was only 16.
I'm the first person open to do this because another coach did this with me.
"But, I repeat, you must have the possibilities to do this. Not to invent
them."
Few could question the depth of young talent at Chelsea having won the FA
Youth Cup in four successive years and conquered Manchester City in last
season's final and Conte suggested the club's loaning activities would not
stop.
"It's very important the young players are ready to play. Otherwise, you
provoke damage to the players. Also to the club and the team," added Conte
who singled out Everton's Wayne Rooney and Manchester United's Marcus
Rashford as rare gems to blossom as teenagers.
"Usually in this type of football, there is a path for the young players.
It's very difficult to see players when they are 16, 17, 18 years old
playing regularly. And they have to develop and then come back to play
regularly with a great team. This is the right way.
"I repeat, I like to work with young players. Last season, if you saw our
squad, we had eight players from the academy and we won the League with
eight players from the academy, and 14 or 15 senior players."
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