The 2013 Premier League season is in the books. Now, Chelsea FC return to the pitch with hopes of embarking on a league-title run in 2014. The club is continuing its summer tour this afternoon and will face Dutch outfit Vitesse. The club friendly scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET will be held at the GelreDome in Arnhem and can be live streamed here.
Though summer tours serve the purpose of preparing seasoned legs for the upcoming season, they also provide managers the opportunity to identify the next generation of talent. Jose Mourinho is no different. The Chelsea boss has already singled out two academy players that he believes could make the jump from the under-21 team to the senior squad.
"We are going to have [Andreas] Christensen and [Nathan] Ake, who are coming from the Academy," Mourinho said (via the club's official website). "We are going to have training with us, but also playing for the under-21 team, [Dominic] Solanke, [Jeremie] Boga and [Izzy] Brown. The other ones who are a bit older, 20 or 21, we feel they need to compete against men in a different league, people like [Patrick] Bamford, [John] Swift, [Nathaniel] Chalobah."
"They are ready to go to other clubs and have a good loan," he added. "What we are trying to do and we believe we are going to be successful is: In a few years' time, when they are between 20 and 23, we will have them back at the right moment and in the first-team squad."
The next opportunity for these youngsters to impress their boss and clubs interested in a loan comes this afternoon in Arnhem.
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