Jose Mourinho believes parents and agents are to blame for stunting the development of young talent
The Chelsea FC manager has said that he fears pushy parents and greedy agents are ruining the careers of the club’s young stars.
He said: “The most difficult thing in bringing a teenage player through? In modern football, the agents and the parents”.
It is understood that Mourinho will give some of his academy stars a chance to shine at West Bromwich Albion tonight.
Last week he handed Ruben Loftus-Cheek his full debut against Liverpool.
Mourinho is also expected to give the 19-year-old another start at the Hawthorns this evening, while teenagers Izzy Brown and Nathan Ake will also feature.
He said he is keen to add home-grown talent to his first-team squad, but is concerned that the demands of parents will scupper his plans.
“Without naming names, I could write a book. In modern football, it is because of the agents and the parents, when the players are almost there, and in the process of being almost there, they think they are already there.
“They make the players think they have arrived when they haven’t.
“They think about money before the career starts, and everything gets very, very confused.”
Mourinho’s comments come just over a month after a new report suggested that the behaviour of many parents is turning their children off sport.
A study by Marylebone Cricket Club found some pupils were sworn at and told things like they were “too heavy” or too “lazy to run”.
In one case parents had used the phrases, “you’re not good enough, you can’t do it, you’re worthless”.
In total, 45 per cent of the eight to 16-year-olds questioned said the bad behaviour of parents made them feel like they did not want to take part in sport.
