Highest average age in the prem

[blinkblue]

There's only really Sagna, Yaya and Demichellis that are coming to the stage where they might need to be replaced or adjust their game. Yaya is good enough perhaps to play in a different way, either moving deeper or further forward or becoming an impact player off the bench.

Demichellis will be off after this season probably and Sagna too (may even be sold this summer). The sale of Dzeko will also take the average age down, not that it's a stat that I'm particularly bothered about.

 

[Blue>Red]

Too much worrying goes on about age here

 

[southstandblue27]

It was never an issue. We had Wright, Lampard and Demichelis bringing the average up, but the rest (particularly the ones that start every game) are players who were just getting to 30. We're in a perfect position to start thinking about bringing in younger challengers over the next few years.

How many years do you reckon these players have got left, at least as a rotation player?

Zabaleta (30) - 3 years
Kompany (29) - 5 years (if his injury record improves)
Fernandinho (30) - 2 years realistically before the club signs someone younger
Toure (32) - End of his contract, whenever that is
Clichy (29) - 2 years
Silva (29) - 3/4 years
Navas (29) - Sold next year if not this summer IMO
Dzeko (29) - Sold this summer
Kolarov (29) - Same as Navas - Angelino as replacement?
Sagna (32) - Sold next year if not this summer
Caballero (33) - Sold next year if not this summer

World class players can usually offer something well into their mid-30s, and from that list, I'd put Kompany, Zabaleta, Toure and Silva in that category. They might have to adapt their game, of course, and settle for slightly less time on the pitch in the later years. The rest could easily maintain their current performance levels until they're at least 32. Obviously some will be sold while they're still worth something. And for a keeper, 33 is nothing. So there's plenty of time to be thinking about the next generation, and it's pretty obvious that we're already looking at it with our transfer targets and loan recalls.

Done that in bold for how long I expect them to stay at the club, not how long until they retire/seriously decline

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Done that in bold for how long I expect them to stay at the club, not how long until they retire/seriously decline

I think some of those are a bit short tbh. I don't think Silva will move on when he's 32 or 33. When you look at similar players like Scholes, Pirlo, Xavi, etc, they can contribute for a long time. Clichy would be experienced, homegrown cover, even if a younger player takes his starting spot. I can see him staying until he's 33 or so. I'd be surprised if Zabaleta doesn't retire here. Obviously a lot of it depends on who we bring in, and whether older players are willing to play more of a bit-part role as they get older.

 

[southstandblue27]

I think some of those are a bit short tbh. I don't think Silva will move on when he's 32 or 33. When you look at similar players like Scholes, Pirlo, Xavi, etc, they can contribute for a long time. Clichy would be experienced, homegrown cover, even if a younger player takes his starting spot. I can see him staying until he's 33 or so. I'd be surprised if Zabaleta doesn't retire here. Obviously a lot of it depends on who we bring in, and whether older players are willing to play more of a bit-part role as they get older.

Yeah fair enough, i did feel a little harsh with a few, especially because of how great they have been to the club.

With Silva, he has been playing with an ankle injury for the past couple of years which will shorten his career, can see him going back to Spain to retire.

I was deliberately fairly short with them though because of how promising our youth system is looking. Obviously we need experience as well but I feel if we held on to Zaba, Vincent, Toure, Aguero and Hart for the next 4/5 years then that would provide a great base of experience with hopefully a young and hungry squad playing alongside them.

 

[Burtonblue]

We are building the next generation and guess what, the media don't like it, hence the negative press.
Very exited at the prospect of some of our youngsters coming through this season.
Can't wait to see Denayer stepping up to the plate for one.

 

[Sergi0 Na5r1]

I would hope we can move Sagna on and Willy in to a coaching role over the next couple of windows. MDM getting on as well. Dzeko is quite possibly on the way out already. So that should reduce the age some more if that happens. We're planning many years ahead with our transfers which is a good sign.

 

[NorthwoodMCFC]

Everybody loves to mention the age of the squad when we are losing and that's the reason for all our problems but then all of a sudden when we win e.g our winning run at the end of the season. Nobody mentions the age of the squad.

 

[gazzaa2]

The problem with the age of the squad is the lack of re-sale value. Chelsea had it when their team got old a few years ago. Lampard, Drogba, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Anelka, Makelele, now Cech all left for free or low fees at 30+. What they then did was spend a bomb on young players to replace them and a lot of them are either in the team now (Hazard, Matic, Courtois, Oscar) or sold on for massive profit (Luiz, Mata, De Bruyne).

We're now at the point where we have to spend big on the likes of Sterling, De Bruyne and Pogba, but those players in the OP would mean a £200m outlay on players this summer and letting a few of the 29+ players go isn't going to see much of that back. Especially when you're trying to sell them to Italy and they earn over 100k a week.

It just needs to be well managed. Get the average age of the forwards down this year and then do the same with the midfield and defence over the next year. The key is that quality is replaced with quality.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

The problem with the age of the squad is the lack of re-sale value. Chelsea had it when their team got old a few years ago. Lampard, Drogba, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Anelka, Makelele, now Cech all left for free or low fees at 30+. What they then did was spend a bomb on young players to replace them and a lot of them are either in the team now (Hazard, Matic, Courtois, Oscar) or sold on for massive profit (Luiz, Mata, De Bruyne).

We're now at the point where we have to spend big on the likes of Sterling, De Bruyne and Pogba, but those players in the OP would mean a £200m outlay on players this summer and letting a few of the 29+ players go isn't going to see much of that back. Especially when you're trying to sell them to Italy and they earn over 100k a week.

I think if the players are world class, you're not really too bothered about a sell on fee, because ideally they'll stay on until they retire or close to it. Silva's value is only going to go down from now on, but I wouldn't for a second think about selling him. I'd hardly criticise Chelsea for holding on to club legends rather than cashing in on them. The key is selling your squad players at the right time, which both us and Chelsea have improved at in recent years (Negredo and Garcia were both good sales, and Rodwell was impressive given the circumstances). That means selling the likes of Navas, Dzeko and Kolarov now, while they'd still command a decent fee, rather than keeping them on as a squad player that's only going to get less and less valuable. With players like Kompany, Zabaleta, Silva, Aguero and Toure, as long as they want to stay, I see no reason to entertain selling them ever, so their transfer value isn't really important. I'd rather get every last drop of top level football out of them and see them leave for free when they're no longer good enough, than sell them when they'd still have a key part to play in the team. Unless someone clearly emerges to push them out of the team.