Scottish Premiership rivals Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers and Celtic both have some very exciting young players.
Mark Allen has told The Record that Rangers and Celtic should be allowed to enter Colt teams into the Scottish Football League pyramid, admitting that the system is ‘failing’ academy starlets at the moment.
The Rangers’ Director of Football believes that youth players from Celtic and the Gers should be facing professional players instead of teenagers in order to aid their development.
Allen points to Ajax as a prime example of its benefits, as the Dutch giants reached the Champions League semi-final last week with a team comprised mostly of academy players.
That side is now ‘worth a fortune’ and the Ibrox chief says the powers that be should ‘think very seriously’ about letting the Old Firm youngsters into one of the lower divisions.
“I urge people to think very seriously about this. It’s the only thing holding our game back right now. It’s about establishing a playground and understanding that if we do it, our youngsters will have a future in the game.
“From my time at City, I know Leroy Sane was playing B team football at the age of 16 and 17. Matthijs de Ligt at Ajax was in their reserve team at 16 as well. We’re failing the young players by not giving them that chance because they’re good enough.
“It’s a proven model that Europe are able to convert. They create an asset base. This Ajax team is worth a fortune now when it has cost them virtually nothing to produce. The model’s there financially as well.”
The Ajax model is a prime example of how devastating it can be when young players are involved in men’s football from an earlier age.
Celtic and Rangers have some very promising young stars, like Karomoko Demeble and Dapo Mebude to name a few, and Allen is right; it would do more for their development if they were up against men every week.
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