Vitesse Arnhem – Shrewd or Abuse?

Eredivisie has grown into the great crèche of European football, with the top clubs taking the opportunity to send their finest gems out to Holland for the finishing school of a top player. With Barcelona taking up the opportunity to send several academy graduates off to the flat land of Holland and experience the technique and class of Dutch football, Isaac Cuenca one of the latest to make the trip North East from Spain to join Ajax on loan after failing to nail down a place at the Catalan club. The falling of European prevalence for Eredivisie has seen Holland shift to a development centre for others, from the great Ajax side that seems a lifetime away given the level of performance from Dutch sides in this century.


However, the loan system has found itself under strain and clubs jumping through loopholes since its beginning, Vitesse Arnhem just one of the latest to exhibit some initiative in their signing of players. This is not a tactic that has been exclusive to Vitesse, or Dutch football, with Watford adopting a similar strategy with their questionably close relationship with Udinese – but its Vitesse and Chelsea that have drawn criticism from rivals. The six loanees that Chelsea have allowed to go to Vitesse Arnhem have drawn expected criticism and NEC Nijmegen’s technical director openly criticised the relationship and asked for investigation – always going to grow in significance when Vitesse have climbed to the top of the Eredivisie.

Vitesse’s six Chelsea players are; Sam Hutchinson, Lucas Piazon, Gael Kakuta, Christian Atsu, Cristian
Cuevas and Patrick van Aanholt. Six players that are proving influential to the campaign and Lucas Piazon’s key role in the sides success will no doubt have highlighted issues other clubs have been wary of – the Brazilian youngster having netted seven times and assisted four others in just twelve league appearances. Despite the loophole in the system, is this ethical and sporting from Chelsea and Vitesse or a dangerously close link that should be looked in to?

The relationship between the clubs is reportedly through friendship of the owners and was contributing to Marco van Ginkel’s £8 million move to Chelsea, as well as Wilfried Bony leaving to Swansea – but the side (after losing two of their top players) still find themselves at the top of Eredivisie. As the system is currently running, Vitesse are beginning to look more like Chelsea’s version of Barcelona B or Real Madrid Castilla (but that debate is for another time) a trend that is quite reasonably irritating others in both the UK and Holland.

Ultimately, there has been sly thinking and dealing from both Vitesse and Chelsea to manipulate the regulations for their own equal benefit that is difficult to argue with whilst Vitesse are top of the table – although questions always remain over Chelsea’s ability to develop youth players for their squad rather than continuous investment, ie. Willian being signed when Moses and Piazon are loaned. Although not the only relationship between clubs that could be deemed questionable, many questions are thrown up from the whole story and when the end comes to building a ‘B’ side around Europe that there can be a basis of Chelsea-owned players potentially winning the Eredivisie (although a long way off) seems wrong to many and unfair on the rest, not benefitting the division in the long-term whatsoever. Vitesse and Chelsea are piercing a loophole to the point of bringing the loan system into disrepute, damaging the Dutch game and makes Chelsea’s own development of their young players questionable, despite great for Vitesse in the short-term and good to see the young players given a chance; I wonder what Vitesse fans think of the concept.

By Sam Cox.