Jose Mourinho warns Chelsea young guns: You won't play for the first team until you're ready... there's no room for nurturing talent

  • Jose Mourinho says there isn't room for nurturing talent in the first team
  • Chelsea boss says players must be ready to play before being promoted
  • Chelsea reached fourth straight FA Youth Cup final by beating Tottenham
  • Blues also into semi-final of UEFA Youth League against Roma 

Jose Mourinho has warned his hugely success youth team players that there is little room in his squad for nurturing home-grown talents.

The Chelsea Under 18s are the reigning FA Youth Cup champions and they reached their fourth consecutive final on Wednesday night by defeating Tottenham 5-4 on aggregate.

The success story does not stop there as the Under 19 side have also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Youth League where they will play Roma across two legs in April.


However, ahead of Sunday's visit to play Hull, Mourinho has warned the burgeoning stars that the pressure at Stamford Bridge is to collect trophies, not produce players.

Chelsea moved into their fourth straight FA Youth Cup final after beating Tottenham on aggregate

Chelsea moved into their fourth straight FA Youth Cup final after beating Tottenham on aggregate

'If they're good enough and they're ready then yes,' Mourinho said when asked if having a core of home-grown talent was a target. 'It's important, but this club is a very demanding club. It's a club where it's not easy to play football. The level people demand is high, the pressure is big.

'It's not the same to play in a club where people just accept a so-so performance, or people accept a so-so result. Or accept that you finish 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th.

'This is not the best habitat for a young player to be developed. For a player to play in the Chelsea first team the player must be ready. There is no space with this level of demand, responsibility and pressure. There is no space to play a player who is not ready.'

Striker Dominic Solanke struck twice on Wednesday night to help the Under-18 side reach the cup final once again and also netted a brace in last season's final second-leg when his side lifted the trophy ahead of Fulham.

Jose Mourinho says that the youth players must be ready to play before being promoted to the first team

Jose Mourinho says that the youth players must be ready to play before being promoted to the first team

But even after making his Champions League debut in a dead rubber group-stage match earlier this season, the wealth of imported talent means he is unlikely to get another first-team chance any time soon.

'I played Solanke winning 5-0 against Maribor, in a competition where we qualified easily in the group phase,' Mourinho said. 'I cannot play Solanke against Southampton with 30 minutes left at 1-1, I can't.'

Solanke and the rest of Chelsea's finalists did get some additional reward for their heroics on Wednesday night after club captain John Terry was in the dressing room after the 5-2 win congratulating the young charges and offering advice.

The Blues' skipper is destined to one day take over as manager of the west London club, but Mourinho insists it will not be any time soon while the centre-back is still one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

'He's going to sign a new contract as a player,' Mourinho said. 'In a couple of weeks or a month we will have a notice for the press conference.

Dominic Solanke, pictured scoring against Tottenham, played in a Champions League match against Maribor

Dominic Solanke, pictured scoring against Tottenham, played in a Champions League match against Maribor

'For the next year at least I see him as a player and I don't think it's right for me to speak about him after that.'

Victory against Steve Bruce's side on Sunday will take the Premier League leaders one match closer to clinching yet another title.

Eden Hazard has been in scintillating form for Chelsea and while his manager does not want to draw any additional attention to his player, he does warn the decision makers of his criteria for any Player of the Season accolades.

'In my old-fashioned way of looking at individual awards, for me individual awards only for the winners,' he added.

'I'm never happy when somebody wins individual awards but doesn't win the big prize, the collective one. If I was the guy to give awards, I'd wait until the end of the season and it would always go to a champion.'