City say goodbye to one of their brightest youngsters

It appears that the financial situation at Manchester City has forced the club to over look a number of younger players, this has resulted in Daniel Sturridge being snapped up by Chelsea. Sturridge, 19, made a few first team appearances at City and has been tipped by many pundits as becoming a future England centre forward.

It appears to be a healthy and productive bit of business on the part of Chelsea who are looking to develop experience and youth under the management of Carlo Ancelotti. Sturridge refused a new Manchester City contract but because he is under the age of 24 years old, Chelsea will have to pay a fee as the player cannot move under the Bosman ruling.

It should be quite worrying for a lot of Manchester City fans because the owners said they would continue to allow young and developing players a chance to play in the first team. This is the first direct example that contradicts this and suggests that City will buy their way into the future, which can be a lot less stable than investing in the youth of the side to help the club grow.

Chelsea fans may be a bit puzzled as to why they have signed this particular player but it is a good move for a number of reasons. Firstly, Sturridge is not a bad player and has already proven that he can cut it at the top level. He will create competition for places with his enthusiasm and energy and it will only be a matter of time until his skills develop to a much more advanced level.

Secondly, it has to be considered that for a club with the size and stature of Chelsea, their youth teams have not been the best in the country over the last couple of years. They have all of the ingredients necessary to produce products from a great academy but for some reason it just does not seem to be happening. The arrival of Sturridge is a statement of intent that Chelsea want to bring in greater quality players into their youth sides and they want everyone to see that they are investing into the future of football.

Manchester City boss, Mark Hughes, may not have actually wanted to sell the player is he is clearly a very talented young man. However, with the pressures that the owners at City are likely to place on him over the next one or two seasons, he cannot afford to be carrying players in the squad and has to look to free up this space to bring in higher quality. This will increase the depth of the City squad and means that when a senior player picks up a bad injury, there is already a high-class replacement waiting to step in.

It is harsh on a player as young and inexperienced as Sturridge but he couldn’t have picked a better club to be going to. He now has the chance to get into one of the most admired first teams in the country and settle into a city that should suit him down to the ground.

Chelsea salvage some silverware at the end of a disappointing season.

Chelsea lifted the FA Cup as Guus Hiddink’s last game in charge of the West London side ended in success. Chelsea ran out 2-1 winners after goals from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard. Everton had gone ahead after Louis Saha scored the fastest goal in FA Cup history to put his side 1-0 up after 27 seconds.

However, Everton were not able to maintain the early match pressure that they built up and the result was a fitting way for Hiddink to end his short tenure in charge of Chelsea. The victory will put a smile on the face of everyone at the club after some disappointing end of season results, which left the side looking as though they may finish without any silverware.

It was an efficient display from a Chelsea side that looked as though they had a point to prove. They were rampant down the left wing with Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda combining on several occasions, that resulted in Everton’s right back, Tony Hibbert, being taken off at half time.

Hiddink said after the game: “It was one of the biggest achievements in my career, winning in the Mecca of world football. The FA Cup is something that you truly cannot believe.”

The result will be hard to take for David Moyes. He has been hailed as one of the most under rated managers in the Premier League and yet another chance to break the dominance of the big four teams in England has slipped through Everton’s grasp. However, they didn’t play badly and it was only a couple of goals that was the difference. They can learn from the lessons and make sure they come back fighting next season.

Moyes said: “We deserved to be in the final because the players performed ever so well throughout the season, but we found Chelsea a hurdle too much. They were the better team and used the conditions better than we did.”

Chelsea’s win showed everyone just why Hiddink was the right man to be leading the side and although he travels back to Russia soon, he will be missed as he steadied a ship that was violently rocking when he came in just a few months ago.

Hiddink also has the look of a manager that could stay in a position for a very long time and you would never have guessed yesterday that David Moyes has been at Everton for nearly seven years longer than his counterpart. Whoever now comes in to replace the Dutchman has a big place to fill and will have to work extremely hard to maintain the progress that Hiddink was able to achieve in such a short space of time.

Hiddink is likely to return to English football at some point in the near future and whoever manages to get him to coach their side will be very lucky indeed. It is truly refreshing to someone with so much managerial talent be so modest and bow out of such a big position with a lot of grace.