Kenyon Says Chelsea Will Target Developing English Players

Chelsea's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, said yesterday that this month's sweeping cuts to the club's international scouting system were made because English clubs will need to develop more of their own players in coming years.

In an apparent contradiction of the Premier League's position - which rejects Uefa's home-grown rule and the Fifa president Sepp Blatter's proposal for a 6+5 split of local and overseas players in domestic teams - Kenyon said Chelsea accept that those initiatives put the onus on clubs to develop young English talent.

Speaking at the International Football Arena conference in Zurich, Kenyon said the sacking of 15 global scouts by Chelsea earlier this month was prompted by the club's decision to concentrate more on finding good young footballers in England. "Realigning the scouting system was about looking at where we want to be," he said. "We've made a commitment to having the core of our team English; we are developing our youth.

"The rules from Uefa on home-grown players and Fifa's proposal for 6+5 puts a real onus on clubs to develop their own talent much more fully. With that comes a lot of benefits, and so we looked at our scouting program to be more focused."

Kenyon added that the overhaul of the scouting network was part of a line-by-line review of the club's spending at all levels to try to reduce costs, as he strives to negotiate the economic downturn and fulfill his promise to make the club self-funding rather than reliant on the fortune of the owner, Roman Abramovich, by the 2010-11 season. He added that it is "extremely unlikely" that Chelsea will sign new players in the January transfer window.

The chief executive also confirmed that since the Russian oligarch bought Chelsea in 2003 he has poured £578m into the club by means of an interest-free loan. Kenyon explained that he preferred that they carry this "internal debt" to the owner rather than be like Manchester United and Liverpool, whose takeovers by North American businessmen have left the clubs saddled with borrowings of £667m and £185m respectively. "I'm glad we are not in that position," he said. "It gives us some strength - it gives us a competitive advantage in the long run."

Asked why Abramovich put the money in as a loan rather than invest it in equity, Kenyon claimed that was "the most efficient way" of the Russian financing the club. He refused to discuss reports that the owner's personal fortune has been severely hit by the economic downturn.