Chelsea’s connection to the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem looks set to be strengthened in the coming days, with Leonid Slutsky expected to be named manager from next season.
Vitesse are Russian owned and Chelsea use the club as a grounding base for their younger squad members. Players who have taken the Arnhem route include, Nemanja Matic, Bertrand Traoré, Gaël Kakuta, and Patrick van Aanholt.
Currently over in Holland, on loan are Matt Miazga, Fankaty Dabo and Mason Mount. All have had good game time and are progressing ahead of their return to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Slutsky had a short spell managing Hull City in the Championship in England, a job Abramovich, helped him to get. A poor run of results saw him the leave the club by mutual consent just 6 months later. Speaking of his friendship with Abramovich, Slutsky said,
“He is my friend and he tries to help me in the situation.
“Abramovich had an academy in Russia, invested a lot for infrastructure in Russian football.
“He built about 300 artificial pitches and was sponsor of the Russian national team.
“Today, his project in Russian football is me.”
Source: The Daily Mail
One player who could be making the move over to Arnhem, is the CSKA Moscow midfielder Alexander Golovin. Russian media outlet Sport 24, believe Abramovich has a personal interest in the 21-year-old.
It’s claimed he’ll sign for Chelsea in the summer, before taking the Vitesse route for a season under Slutsky’s control. Golovin has scored 6 goals and made 5 assists in his 38 appearances for CSKA this season.