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Chelsea's Kevin Zefi A Youth Draft Pick With An Uncertain Future
The recent Free Youth Opt-in Draft giveaway took place in FFO, whereby each club in the game was given an equal chance to secure the services of a top 19-year-old youth player for no charge as part of a new FFO initiative to give players who have dropped out from academies another chance of a career in the game.
Similar to the academy Glen Hoddle ran in Spain that time. The players who graduated from that academy were available to be drafted to all the clubs in FFO, but they came with very strict rules attached, and harsh minute requirements.
The young lads on this list are, in general are better than the trainees currently in the clubs' youth academies thanks to the extra training, so hopes were high that a top talent could be secured for Chelsea.
The player chosen at random for Chelsea was Kevin Zefi, a youngster from the streets of Dublin, Ireland. Zefi spent some time at Shamrock Rovers reserves before developing in the Inter Milan and Roma youth teams.
K_Zefi 19 IRL 1 6 17 13 29 1 258 586 578
The player's abilities were somewhat of a disappointment to Chelsea manager Steven K. Talbot, with much better players being given to clubs who don't need them, like PSG, Roma, and Manchester United. Liverpool, too, obtained a cracker of a young player. If Chelsea had been lucky enough to get one of those, they would have given them a good amount of minutes to see if they could develop into a class player.
I_Halifa 19 FRA 1 16 17 12 30 1 427 367 917 (Liverpool)
Multi-skilled, and will play under Graeme Edwards for a good amount of minutes. Maybe even 3/4 of available minutes, we predict, as Edwards pushes hard to turn Halifa from a prospect into a pro.
J_Slory 19 NED 1 6 17 16 26 1 199 794 812 (Man Utd)
Not far off 18-17, this lad is a great prospect, and I'm sure Steve Outten will nurture him along, ensuring he ticks over enough to become a sellable asset in S6.
C_Ndour 19 ITA 1 12 17 15 22 1 526 639 849 (PSG)
Unfortunately, Ndour is set to become a wasted talent in Paris. I doubt Ed will play Ndour at all unless in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency type situation. I wish he'd turned up at Chelsea instead, as he would have a future, but as things stand, he looks set to sign on the dole at the end of S4.
E_Diop 19 FRA 1 11 17 15 24 1 987 568 913 (Roma)
Another multi-skiller. I'm not sure what the new manager Hamza will do with Diop. It will be interesting to watch. Will he go potentially the same route as Ed and not play him at all to keep the team strong, or will he use him as a decent 11th or 12th man? We predict the latter.
Unfortunately for our new recruit Zefi, his long-term future looks bleak at Stamford Bridge.
Zefi still holds value for a club with limited resources like Chelsea, though we can't just toss him away. With the player not allowed to be sold or loaned out for two full seasons as per the rules of this new FFO initiative, it creates a big choice for a lot of clubs.
Next season will be a lot tougher as his skills will re-rate up to 18-14, and he will need many more minutes. The decision may need to be reevaluated at that point. Does the club go for the 1,480 minutes (which is roughly 33 minutes needed per game if you include 6 CL games and 1 domestic cup game on top of 38 league games—not counting any injury or suspension) and then sell the player somehow, some way to get some value, or cut their losses at that point and release Zefi at the end of Season 4? That one will be decided down the line.
However, news this morning was that the FFO Admin team was looking at reducing the minutes needed for youngsters, as suggested by Talbot in an open public chat with the league. One to watch, as the results of this re look by the FFO Admin team could see the futures of many of these youths given another chance.
Words: 797
The recent Free Youth Opt-in Draft giveaway took place in FFO, whereby each club in the game was given an equal chance to secure the services of a top 19-year-old youth player for no charge as part of a new FFO initiative to give players who have dropped out from academies another chance of a career in the game.
Similar to the academy Glen Hoddle ran in Spain that time. The players who graduated from that academy were available to be drafted to all the clubs in FFO, but they came with very strict rules attached, and harsh minute requirements.
The young lads on this list are, in general are better than the trainees currently in the clubs' youth academies thanks to the extra training, so hopes were high that a top talent could be secured for Chelsea.
The player chosen at random for Chelsea was Kevin Zefi, a youngster from the streets of Dublin, Ireland. Zefi spent some time at Shamrock Rovers reserves before developing in the Inter Milan and Roma youth teams.
K_Zefi 19 IRL 1 6 17 13 29 1 258 586 578
The player's abilities were somewhat of a disappointment to Chelsea manager Steven K. Talbot, with much better players being given to clubs who don't need them, like PSG, Roma, and Manchester United. Liverpool, too, obtained a cracker of a young player. If Chelsea had been lucky enough to get one of those, they would have given them a good amount of minutes to see if they could develop into a class player.
I_Halifa 19 FRA 1 16 17 12 30 1 427 367 917 (Liverpool)
Multi-skilled, and will play under Graeme Edwards for a good amount of minutes. Maybe even 3/4 of available minutes, we predict, as Edwards pushes hard to turn Halifa from a prospect into a pro.
J_Slory 19 NED 1 6 17 16 26 1 199 794 812 (Man Utd)
Not far off 18-17, this lad is a great prospect, and I'm sure Steve Outten will nurture him along, ensuring he ticks over enough to become a sellable asset in S6.
C_Ndour 19 ITA 1 12 17 15 22 1 526 639 849 (PSG)
Unfortunately, Ndour is set to become a wasted talent in Paris. I doubt Ed will play Ndour at all unless in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency type situation. I wish he'd turned up at Chelsea instead, as he would have a future, but as things stand, he looks set to sign on the dole at the end of S4.
E_Diop 19 FRA 1 11 17 15 24 1 987 568 913 (Roma)
Another multi-skiller. I'm not sure what the new manager Hamza will do with Diop. It will be interesting to watch. Will he go potentially the same route as Ed and not play him at all to keep the team strong, or will he use him as a decent 11th or 12th man? We predict the latter.
Unfortunately for our new recruit Zefi, his long-term future looks bleak at Stamford Bridge.
Zefi still holds value for a club with limited resources like Chelsea, though we can't just toss him away. With the player not allowed to be sold or loaned out for two full seasons as per the rules of this new FFO initiative, it creates a big choice for a lot of clubs.
- Play the full minutes and weaken your team.
- Play the minimum minutes.
- Or don't play at all and keep as a backup who doesn't need to play, and lose them for nothing at the end of the season.
Next season will be a lot tougher as his skills will re-rate up to 18-14, and he will need many more minutes. The decision may need to be reevaluated at that point. Does the club go for the 1,480 minutes (which is roughly 33 minutes needed per game if you include 6 CL games and 1 domestic cup game on top of 38 league games—not counting any injury or suspension) and then sell the player somehow, some way to get some value, or cut their losses at that point and release Zefi at the end of Season 4? That one will be decided down the line.
However, news this morning was that the FFO Admin team was looking at reducing the minutes needed for youngsters, as suggested by Talbot in an open public chat with the league. One to watch, as the results of this re look by the FFO Admin team could see the futures of many of these youths given another chance.
Words: 797