And all the others English clubs who can't develope their own players.

It's quite scary and sad that they actually follow youth football to such an extent to poach players really.

So far English clubs have poached:

Giuseppe Rossi, Parma > Man Utd (17 years old)
Arturo Lupoli, Parma - Arsenal (17 years old)
Vito Mannone, Atalanta > Arsenal (17 years old)
Vincenzo Camilleri, Reggina > Chelsea (15 years old)
Fabio Borini, Bologna > Chelsea (15 years old)
Fabio Zamblera, Atalanta > Newcastle (17 years old)
Giuseppe Prestia, Palermo > Chelsea (14 years old)
Federico Macheda, Lazio > Man Utd (15 years old)

I'm probably missing some.

Bodes well for English football doesn't it?

I'll like to see what Chelsea do up against a big boy, the lad is a Juve fan from Torino like his brother.

Cunts.

"they observe all the youth Leagues of our country in a systematic manner".... f**k OFF!!!

all the young talent want to move to england, face it lads

Italian clubs have never done this then I take it.

Lol, most predictable response from foreign PL fans. From provincial Italian teams, sure. From other big leagues, never. This is a cancer and the PL is a beacon for what is morally wrong in football today. This will stopped soon anyway, so make the most of it, your youth coaches will haveto earn their money.

No its more like the English clubs know f*ck all about youth development and bringing up there own youth players that they just snatch up players from other countries. They also dont give two f*ck about the English game and they have know shame filling up there starting 11 with a bunch of forginors and doing the same with there youth systems.

Italy has the best youth system in the world so it is basically a feeding ground for English Clubs. Its pathetic really and Chelsea is the worst club at doing that.

Ok, so there was no brazilian youngsters in Italy before they changed the numbers of non EU players allowed then. I must remember wrong..

Poaching is poaching, this is just reaching a more suprising conclusion.

Bollocks mate...plenty of young latin Americans in both Italy and Spain.

And that has what to do exactly with PL clubs poaching young players from the other 2 big leagues? Your missing, or more likely ignoring, the point. Every decent sized club poaches players, legally or illegaly. A Serie C side will poach from a Serie D side, and upwards it goes for example. Every young player and their agent want them to play at a high level. However why would a young player who comes through at a good Italian or Spanish side want to move from their family to an alien climate where they will actually have less chance of playing first team football at the top level? One reason - money. Who cares if a young south american or African or lower league player is taken from their club? It is often with the consent of their club who need the money and are proud to let their player have a chance at a big side, selling players keeps these clubs going. This is the difference - taking a player from a team where he has a great chance of football at the top level for a couple hundred thousand pounds at a tribunal because their country has different employment laws, when that club has developed the player and could potentially sell them for much much more. Interesting to see fans of the PL teams come to defend their teams, Im sure if the shoe was on the other foot they wouldnt be so blase or ignorant about it. Not that many foreign sides would go for English kids in the first place I guess, which is why this thread is here at all really.

LoL, most predictable response from a foreign Seria A fan.

Best players go the best clubs in the best leagues

lol how is he foreign hes half Itai

I don't really see why anyone tries to defend it, it doesn't even work. Look at the list Jay posted, Rossi has left United, and Lupoli returned to Italy, in that case for free so Arsenal actually made a loss in poaching him, Lupoli has also not fulfilled his early potential, if he'd stayed at Parma he'd have got in the team, we can't know for sure but I'm pretty certain he'd have got more playing time this season than he has!
Rossi's doing quite well, but was it really worth united's while to poach him, train him and make a small profit?

I thought the people here would actually be a lot more clued up with football than they actually are, but a happy denial seems the best way forward. This is something I feel strongly about not from a particularly biased perspective but as a global and particularly English football issue, so I hope I don't ever end up with this attitude as it means that it has become generally accepted.

This is why you have this lax attitude from the PL fans now, they pack their youth and reserve teams full of non-British players who were gained either by moral or immoral means. There was a time when PL fans would have joined me in this, even the big club fans, so it's kind of sad that it is seen as the norm.

Poaching is a global issue, however PL clubs are at the forefront of it and are the worst perpretrators by a long way, so this is why I say fuck off to them. After all, the thread itself and my original post highlighted PL teams poaching kids from Serie A because they can't sign a pro contract until they are eightteen so that is my main point. Italian kids don't want to play in England at all, Italians are homely people and you ask any Italian kid who he dreams of playing for when they are older and it is their local teams and/or Milan, Juve, Inter, Roma, Lazio. Calcio is a religion. The only reason they move is because of this legal loophole and the fact they are offered ridiculous money, up to ten times what they would earn for a youth contract in Italy. If a PL club gets to an agent and offers him a substantial fee then that is half of the battle won, agents are usually well in with the players family and few agents control lots of players.

As for the point on Italian and Spanish clubs poaching latin Americans, Italian clubs can only sign one player from outside of the EU per season, so they aren't going to sign a kid from Boca Juniors' youth system are they? If you look through Serie A's youth sides, they are 95% Italian, and the rest tend to be African immigrants who have been picked up from regional nursery and lower league sides. To sign a South American like Fernando Forestieri as Genoa or Fabio Santacroce as Como they have to have EU passports (Italian mainly, look at the surnames), so they have Italian family, usually at least one parent, and move as kids.

The fact that it is Platini trying to push with this anti-poaching initiative is seen as another dig at English football, PL fans think he is out to get them. The fact is that the PL is now the most morally bereft league in the world with issues such as poaching, transfer and wage costs, overpricing of fans, and all this with the largest tv financial package in place, you would think these teams could set up their own academies and bring their own players through, but they take the easy option, the PL way - throw money at it.

I suppose most of the PL fans who replied in this thread are not affected in anyway by the above, so again, why should it concern you?

IMO I think the English clubs have to get to these Italian kids earlier, like Barca did with Messi. That way it becomes moral.

It's partly because the homegrown players arent coming through the system in sufficient numbers (especially since boundaries were introduced) but also its business sense for the top clubs to cream the best youngsters from other leagues.

Makes me wonder what England be like in ten to ah twenty years down the way. Unless we convince these Italias to play for us could be tough times.

Can't be much worse than now surely.

I know, and who we got young and promisin?

Oh yes, it certainly can.

Ricky digging old threads up

Man Utd trying to poach from Roma now...

Chelsea = Disgrace of a club

Waq dont let go son. Hold on tight.

The PL and their billionaires are taking all tradition and pride out of football to secure a better return on investment. It doesnt work though because if their youth systems were any good anyway they wouldn't need to poach so the players dont fulfill their potential. They should just invest in better youth academies and solve the problem for everyone benifit. How many youngsters get a real chance at a top club anyway. Theres no room there when every player is expected to have been bought for 20 million or, ironically, it is seen as a waste of money by the press and fans alike.

It's just funny really.

Mind you, Juve do not treat their youth very well either, as soon as they get good enough to play we ship them off (susually on co-ownership which is a crock) so we can buy already established players. Hopefully it changes now though.

I'm 100 per cent behind you here Jay. Our big clubs would soon rather send a few scouts out to the continent looking for youth than working with the young english players they have coming through on our own turf.

I'm just glad it's you and not goody.

They systematically scout the Italian youth championships down to 12 year olds, LMFAO. It's just indescribably unethical.