Premier League review: Injection of youth can galvanise Chelsea

Villas Boas has an ageing squad on his hands

It’s time to sign and shine. Despite concern swirling around the fragility of Andre Villas-Boas’ nascent reign at Chelsea, especially after Saturday’s unconvincing 3-1 win over Norwich, positives still abound at Stamford Bridge.

They are undefeated and, crucially, the hierarchy have homed in on a couple of promising fledglings, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku, to freshen up an ageing squad. More please.

It seems a strange request considering Arsenal’s current demise, with the Gunners possessing too many start-ups and too few stars of steely substance, as evinced by their tragic 8-2 loss to Manchester United. But Chelsea already boast the footballing sage of John Terry and Frank Lampard, among others, and new recruits are needed.

As one up-and-coming writer noted last week, recent results show that “this is not the Chelsea of old. Just that Chelsea are old.” Fresh ideas are doubtless coming from their impressive head coach, Villas-Boas, yet new players can keep leading lights on their toes in training. It’s healthy. Ask Liverpool. They splashed cash and faith on young players and such purchases have brought reward. Saturday’s 3-1 win over Bolton shows Liverpool are on the rise. And Steven Gerrard was not even playing.

Mata has already contributed, having neatly tucked in Chelsea’s third goal on Saturday, and the enthusiastic Lukaku looks promising. But two more young stars, of versatile ability, would be beneficial. Two players who can help Chelsea play with more verve and dynamism as they push forward in the title race, which so far seems a tug of war between two maestros in Manchester.

But think fast. Just hours remain before the transfer window slams on Villas-Boas’ fingertips.

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• http://www.facebook.com/akingbade.morakinyo Akingbade Douglas Morakinyo

  Love this…. i want those aged players pave way for young ones..