Chelsea manager wanted to shut down the Blues academy!

Chelsea oligarch Roman Abramovich is known for his lavish spending at the club.

He also spent quite a fortune in the academy and now former Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo has revealed that a certain Blues manager wanted to shut it down but Roman decided otherwise.

The former Monaco chief told the Telegraph: “I defended the academy when there was pressure and doubt and pessimism.

“There was a time when there was a clamour to do more and a manager came in to make a presentation to say the academy was not necessary.

“The argument was it takes too long, we don’t have time, we should use it to make some money here and there, and that the owner should stop pumping money into it because it seemed like a waste.

“But that wasn’t my idea and I had to fight against it.

“This is where I am very, very proud of the owner Roman Abramovich because of the trust he had in me and the willingness to listen to me and give the academy time.

“He would not abandon it. He believed in it and in me, and I can’t thank him enough for that.”