Chelsea could be involved in a bit of controversy due to their shrewd transfer activity, which involved loaning up to six players to Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, raising alarm bells among the other sides competing in the Dutch Eredivisie like NEC Nijmegan, who are the first to file an official complaint to the league authorities.

This strategy could prove to be exceptionally smart by the Blues officials, as it gives their younger players a chance to play together in one squad against strong opposition in the Dutch league. It also gives Chelsea an idea of the players’ composure under pressure, something not easy to judge in youth squads at the club itself. According to the conventional system of raising players, the club would sign young players from around the world, and integrate them in the under-18s, under-19s and the reserve squads to keep a constant check on their progress. If a player performs exceptionally in youth ties over a string of games, he is given the chance of playing for the senior team in cup games, or at least find himself among the substitutes in the same level of games. However, Chelsea have played smart by loaning six players to Vitesse – Patrick van Aanholt, Gael Kakuta, Lucas Piazon, Cristian Cuevas, Sam Hutchinson and the newest signing Christian Atsu. The current football association rules do not prevent clubs from loaning any number of players to one club.

The Blues have strengthened their squad in this summer, adding both experience and youth. Players like Marco van Ginkel, who was another acquisition from Vitesse, has proved to be the great find of the club, and will continue to be in the first team fray over the course of the season. To solve Fernando Torres’ relatively barren patch in front of goal, Jose Mourinho has also brought in Andre Schurrle from Bayer Leverkusen to add spark in attack. Samuel Eto’o will surely add much needed finishing ability in the attack, creating competition for places.

According to the Daily Mail, even though there has been a complaint, Chelsea’s technical director Michael Emenalo is not afraid of their strategy, and believes this will only lead to progress.

Emenalo said, “We think this is the best way to go,

“We identified that for young players, the ages of 18 to 21 is the most difficult time as they wonder if they are good enough for the Chelsea first team and what is next for them.

“When they only play in the Reserves/Under-21s from 18 to 20 you don’t get them to ascend to the level where they are ready to come into the first team and do a job properly.”

Seemingly following the rules this means the 6 Chelsea players at Vitesse Arnhem on loan have a chance to get to know each other and build chemistry which they can then bring back with them to Chelsea. It should definitely help Chelsea and who can blame them for doing their loaning out this way – although I do have some sympathy for the opponents of Vitesse in the Eredivisie.