Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea 'ban each other's scouts from matches' as crunch talks held

Liverpool and Manchester United have reportedly retaliated against Chelsea by prohibiting their scouts from attending academy matches. This comes after the Blues allegedly denied them access, despite no official ban being in place.

It’s believed that accreditation requests for academy games have been rejected due to escalating tensions between the clubs. In recent weeks, scouts from Liverpool and United have been barred from Chelsea’s Coham training ground, a situation that is now seemingly reciprocal.

According to The Athletic, the clubs convened last week in an attempt to resolve the issue, but no agreement has been reached yet. Premier League regulations dictate that scouts should be allowed at academy matches provided they have informed both clubs involved before noon on the last working day prior to the match and can present valid identification.

United and Liverpool are said to believe that this is a reaction to Chelsea losing Rio Ngumoha to Liverpool during the summer. The young midfielder, who had also attracted interest from the Red Devils, opted not to stay with the west London club when offered a contract.

The highly-rated 16-year-old has already made appearances in the UEFA Youth League for Liverpool this season, leaving Chelsea disappointed at losing such a promising player. Despite passing the Premier League’s five-step review process, which ensures no rules are broken when a youth player transfers from one academy to another, the move was reportedly a challenging one.

Chelsea were claimed to have led the way in restricting access and whether Liverpool had already started turning down requests from the Blues remains a contention topic, but such a tit-for-tat measure is expected to unfold in future exchanges.

Crunch talks have taken place between the three clubs, but no solution was found.

Amidst this turmoil, Chelsea’s new academy head honchos face a daunting challenge. The eminent Neil Bath and Jim Fraser both bid farewell to Stamford Bridge earlier in the year, concluding a golden era of youth development spanning twenty years.

Taking the reins as the fresh academy technical director is Glenn van der Kraan from Manchester City. Meanwhile, Jack Francis has been elevated from within the club ranks to serve as academy football operations director.

“After 30 years working at Chelsea, I feel it is the right time for me to have some time off and take a break from a job that I have put so much time into,” stated Bath in a July announcement. “I intend to rest and have some time away from the game, however I will continue working over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition for the organisation.

“As an academy, we have enjoyed fantastic backing from the club throughout my time here, without which none of our success would have been possible.

“I would like to thank every single person – player, parent, colleague, supporter – who has been on this journey with us. We achieved everything we could possibly have dreamed of – five Youth Cups in a row, countless debuts, homegrown players helping the team win the Champions League – and we did it together.

“In particular, I have to mention Jim Fraser, who has assisted me for the past 20 years and played such an important role in everything we have achieved.”