Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti puts faith in Fabio Borini

15 September 2009 11:34
Fabio Borini, who is 18, has been included in Chelsea’s squad for tonight’s Champions League tie at home to Porto along with two other young players – Sam Hutchinson, 20, and Jeffrey Bruma, also 18, who are both defenders. Hutchinson has already appeared for the first-team. However it’s understood that it is Borini, an Italian under-19 international, who has impressed Ancelotti and has been fast-tracked into first-team contention for European games and cup matches. He has been added to the club’s B-list for Uefa matches with Gael Kakuta, the French winger who has been banned for four months by Fifa as part of the sanctions over his disputed transfer, dropping out. With Chelsea lacking the suspended pair of Didier Drogba – for three matches – and Jose Bosingwa – for two matches – and with Deco injured with Alex, Yuri Zhirkov and long-term absentees Joe Cole and Paulo Ferreira, Ancelotti’s resources are stretched. However he professes to having faith in some of the young players who have been recruited, at great expense, by the club’s sporting director Frank Arnesen, over the past few years. Chelsea are sensitive to claims that throughout the Roman Abramovich regime they have failed to bring through first-team players from their own academy. Prominently among those brought in by Arnesen is Borini who arrived at Chelsea from Bologna two years ago – in the flurry of additions undertaken by the Dane, when he was head of youth recruitment, that also included the signing of Kakuta – and who is believed to be a striker in the mould of the AC Milan veteran Filippo Inzaghi who, of course, worked under Ancelotti for eight seasons. Although hardly prolific, Borini is thought to be a clever striker with good skills. Before this evening’s match against Porto, Ancelotti endorsed Chelsea’s youth set-up. “There is potential,” he said. “But we have to take our time because they’re very young players. They have very good quality. There are 17-year-olds who are very, very good. We have to stay working very closely with them. I think that the next period, we can put some of them in the first-team, players from the academy. I’m sure of that. Also, there’s a young Italian who’s very good though I don’t want to say the name..” That player is understood to be Borini. With Arnesen claiming his remit is to provide one first-team player per season – starting with the next campaign – the he could be the likeliest contender. If he did emerge it would be a relief to all a Stamford Bridge. Chelsea face Porto at home this evening, in their opening tie in Group D, which also includes Atletico Madrid and Apoel Nicosia, which represents Ancelotti’s first game in the competition, which he as won four times, twice as a player and twice as a coach with Milan, in charge of his new club. Yesterday Ancelotti stated, again, that his target this season was to reach next May’s Champions League final in Madrid.

Source: Telegraph