Graham Potter Brighton
But he is “really encouraged” by progress made since the club stepped up their investment in player development. Academy graduates Robert Sanchez and Ben White are currently on international duty with Spain and England respectively at Euro 2020. Another reminder of the talent emerging came this week as under-23s skipper Teddy Jenks went on loan to Scottish big guns Aberdeen. Jenks will be tackling top-tier and European football with the Dons. Although many fans will hope not, White could provide a massive pay-off if he leaves this summer. What the club have been saved in transfer fees and wages can only be guessed at – but, for Bloom, it is still early days.
Albion’s chairman said: “It was a huge decision to make, not only to find the first team a training ground but we put a huge amount of infrastructure and resources into the academy set-up which was always going to be long-term. It’s eight years on and we are still early days, still catching up with some other clubs who have had this infra-structure in for many years before us. But I am really encouraged by how the academy is doing, the players it is bringing forward. Even if some of the players on the verge of our squad don’t quite get into it, they have got an opportunity to perhaps be transferred and play in the Championship or League One. We really want all of our players to do as well as they can and to ideally be professionals. Obviously there is always disappointment, there is always a significant percentage who can’t do that. But our job is to help those players get the best careers they can lower down the pyramid if they are not going to be in our squad. So overall really encouraging and huge credit to (academy director) John Morling and all the staff.”
Albion have combined local players with those signed from around the globe in their academy squads. They lead the way in terms of Prem minutes by homegrown players while the under-18s won their Premier League cup last season. It was put to Bloom that, rather than playing catch-up, Albion are now forging ahead in terms of academy football. But he is cautious when asked to go that far.
Tony Bloom replied: “Eight years in terms of an academy, because you start from under-nines, is not a long time. But, given the results and given the players coming through, we may have caught up with a lot of clubs and perhaps even overtaken them. That’s the goal. Let’s see how the next few years go. But its really encouraging, the last few years in particular.”
There are clearly high hopes for Jenks, who was a dominant force striding forward from midfield in the 23s last season.
