Chelsea turns to youth to boost title defense

Chelsea's attempt to retain its English Premier League title could rely as much on its young players as its much exercised financial muscle.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti has strengthened the squad he led to the league and FA Cup double in his first season in charge but the Premier League's new rules overning squad sizes could thrust several young hopefuls into action.

Teams must submit a 25-man squad list to the league containing at least eight so-called "homegrown" players. But that squad can be bolstered by an unlimited number of under-21 players, so the likes of Fabio Borini, Gael Kakuta and Jeffey Bruma could play key roles.

Chelsea has become known for its lavish spending on players since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought it in 2003, bringing the west London club its first league titles for 50 years.

But Manchester City is now the big spender in the Premier League, and Chelsea is loking for investment in its youth system to help it become self-sufficient.

"They are very good players," Ancelotti said. "They need to stay with us and will have more chances this year. I know them very well. We followed them for the last year and it is the time for them to be involved in the squad.

"I don't know how many games they can play this season but we need to have these young players in our squad."

Chelsea, along with Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, already has practice of conforming to this sort of rule because the Champions League imposes the same regulation.

A homegrown layer is one who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with an English or Welsh club for three full seasons or 36 months before his 21st birthday.

That means Chelsea will have to dispose of an overseas player, most likely Brazilian-born Deco, should it complete the signing of Brazil mifielder Ramires from Benfica.

But a caveat that allows clubs to add a limitless number of extra under-21 players should give Borini, Kakuta and Bruma chances.

The new ruling could also help Ancelotti engineer the sort of squad overhaul that proved beyond him at AC Milan, where he won two Champions Leage titles but was undone by an aging side.

Chelsea's title last season came with a team containing eight of the regulars from the side that won the 2006 title under Jose Mourinho. Of those, Ricardo Carvalho, Didier Drogba, Paulo Ferreira and Frank Lampard are all in their 30s, as are Nicolas Anelka, FlorenMalouda and new signing Yossi Benayoun.

But Chelsea scored seven goals last season on three occasions, twice hit five goals and rounded off the season with an 8-0 rout of Wigan. So, it's unsurprising that for now those same players will provide the backbone of Chelsea's challenge.