General manager of football operations Lee O’Neill believes it’s a feather in the academy’s cap that Premier League clubs are eyeing youngsters such as Elkan Baggott and Liam Gibbs and says that the impact of Brexit will see clubs from the top two divisions increasing their interest in young players in the lower leagues.
Centre-half Baggott, 18, recently signed his first professional contract, which runs to the summer of 2023 with the Blues having an option for a further season, having made his first and so far still only appearance for the senior side in the Papa John’s Trophy tie against Gillingham, and also travelled with the first team to Plymouth and was on the bench for the recent home game against Sunderland.
Everton were keen on the Indonesian U19 international, while West Ham and Leeds had also been linked.
O’Neill, who also remains the club’s academy manager, feels that that interest should be viewed as a compliment to the work being done at Playford Road.
He also says Brexit will have an impact with clubs no longer able to sign players aged below 18 from abroad.
"We have to look at it as a positive,” he told TWTD. "I think the whole Brexit thing, with clubs not being able to recruit from Europe as well as they did with the strategies they had in place before Brexit, has meant bigger clubs, whether they’re Premier League clubs or category one clubs, will start to look in and around our area at our players.
"Yes, it’s good for them that they are attracting attention but at the same time it’s really good for us that they want to be here and they all have been with us for a long time through our academy system.
"They can see a pathway through to the first team and that if they play well they keep their place, it’s as simple as that.
"I’m delighted that Elkan has put pen to paper and he’ll continue developing. He’s not the finished article yet, he’s got a lot of developing still to do, but he’s a great kid and his hunger and thirst for knowledge is great.
"He’s got some great people around him, Terry Butcher and Kieron [Dyer, who coach the U23s], [U18s manager] Adem [Atay], [academy head of coaching and player development] Bryan [Klug] and Gerard [Nash], all of them working with him to try and make him a better player.
"And then stepping into the senior side of things Gilly [first-team coach Matt Gill], [assistant manager] Stuart [Taylor] and the manager [Paul Lambert] have been working with him as well.”
Midfielder Gibbs, also 18, made his league debut in the home defeat to Charlton and has also made two starts and one sub appearance in the Papa John’s Trophy.
The Bury St Edmunds-born midfielder’s current contract is up in the summer with Premier League clubs having kept tabs on his progress for some months.
O’Neill confirmed that, as reported by TWTD last month, a new contract has been offered which he hopes he will sign.
"With Liam, I would like to see that situation,” he said. "The kid’s got to play and get some game time.
"He made his debut against Charlton and he wants to see what that next stage is going to look like for him, which I get and understand.
"We obviously would very much like him to sign but that’s going to be a decision for Liam and his family and his advisors on what he does next.
"But it’s the club’s intention that we would like him to stay and we see him as part of our plans, and that’s something we’ll have to review as the second half of the season goes through.”