UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Roman Abramovic and Chelsea, citing the the 70s and early 80s Town side and other clubs who developed their own players as examples of his preferred approach to team-building.

Aigner, whose late first wife was an Ipswich supporter, feels that young players are not being treated properly at Stamford Bridge: "We can now have a world select team and nobody can do anything about it

"Somebody can buy a team and suddenly they can be a candidate to win the Champions League. I don't think football should be about that.'

"At the moment potentially successful youngsters are bought to sit on the substitutes' bench or not played at all. If major clubs have them, others do not and competition is reduced.

"Remember the teams of Moenchengladbach, Malmo, Ipswich and others who emerged because they had a good school and others loved to play for them? That has been lost and it is severely damaging for football in the long run.

"The biggest damage is not really being observed by those who make the decisions today. But it will destroy grass roots in the end."

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