Shaka Hislop comments on Chelsea opting against signing 26-year-old star due to age policy before Spurs transfer

Chelsea’s age transfer policy saw them opting against signing James Maddison

Chelsea’s majority of signings have been young players under Todd Bohely, who has implemented his own rules, with the club’s main emphasis on acquiring youngsters.

This saw the club implement their own transfer policy, where they will only recruit players who are 25 or younger. This also saw the Blues decide not to sign former Leicester City midfielder James Maddison.

Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea’s London rivals, seized the opportunity and signed the England international. This decision may seem like an imprudent choice because the team is going to need players with experience to round out the roster.

Chelsea may have subsequently regretted not pursuing the 26-year-old midfielder given how good he has been for the Spurs. Former West Ham United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop acknowledged Chelsea’s age transfer policy and commented on the situation when he told ESPN.

“I mean, I can’t comment on that, and if that’s their policy, then I just don’t think that given where Chelsea were and a genuine feeling about James Madison, he wouldn’t probably fit the bill, but not all of a sudden, and again, I think a lot of people kind of share that opinion of James Madison, but he has been out and changed opinions.”

This is not a good decision, to be honest, because it makes the squad look incompetent if you don’t sign experienced players who are over the age of 25. It’s great that we are signing young players, but they are raw and need plenty of time to mature into experienced players. This is why a squad should have a mixture of experienced and young players.

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Madison would have been a great Mason Mount replacement; the former Foxes midfielder has been performing productively for the Spurs with three goals and five assists in nine Premier League matches. However, all we can do is move on and perhaps don’t make these mistakes and start placing an important priority on signing players with experience.