Not good enough for Jose yet? Don't worry boys, there's always room in Chelsea's Dutch talent factory

The similarities are striking. Roll up at Vitesse Arnhem’s secluded training base and you could be turning into Chelsea’s leafy retreat in Surrey.

It has the same bronze cladding and stylish design lines with sci-fi detail like fingerprint recognition access and state-of-the-art technology in the medical and fitness suites.

The story goes that the main building was originally planned to be bigger than Chelsea’s but word came from London to make it smaller.

Talent factory: Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem are benefited from loaning a number of Chelsea youngsters

Midfield maestro: Marco van Ginkel signed for Chelsea from Vitesse last summer in an £8million switch



'I don’t know if it’s true but it’s what they say,' nodded head coach Peter Bosz, sipping espresso under the gaze of “The Duke”, the club’s eagle mascot, whose image dominates one wall of the canteen.

Opened last year, the Vitesse complex cost £10million, replacing the rickety sheds previously passing for a training ground. Everyone seems to agree there’s nothing like it in Holland, not even at Ajax.

This historic provincial club is suddenly on the move, boosted by the link which has seen them dubbed 'Chelsea 2' or 'Chelsea B' and moved fans of local rivals NEC to create a banner depicting a puppet footballer in yellow-and-black stripes controlled by a shadowy figure.

Many are sure it is Roman Abramovich who pulls the strings.

Vitesse have signed seven Chelsea players on loan this season and are fourth in the Eredivisie. Title hopes have faded since the turn of the year but the runners-up go into the Champions League and they are a point from PSV in second, with five games to play.

There is no limit on loan signings in Holland but Vitesse’s technical director Mohammed Allach recoiled at the mention of Watford, who ran into double figures last season with loan signings from other clubs controlled by their owners, the Pozzo family.

Seventh heaven: Vitesse have signed seven players on loan from Chelsea during the current campaign Pulling the strings: Many believe Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is behind the link between the clubs

Development: Young Chelsea players unable to break into Jose Mourinho's team are thriving at Vitesse

'That’s too much,' said Allach. 'Then, you can consider yourself a second team. That’s not us. You have to keep your own identity. That’s what’s so beautiful in this relationship, we respect each other’s identity.'

Identity is the buzzword for Allach, Bosz and chief executive Joost de Wit as they balance three key sources of talent: the transfer market, Chelsea and the Vitesse academy, which produced Marco van Ginkel.

'From 32 players, we currently have five from Chelsea and eight from our Academy which I think means we keep our identity quite well,' said De Wit. 'We are committed to our own players but Vitesse fans don’t care where a player comes from. If you wear yellow-and-black and score like Lucas Piazon did in our derby, you are very popular.

Identity: Vitesse techinical director Mohammed Allach says Chelsea and his own club respect each other

'We like to feel we are the boss here and we are, but we respect our co-operation with Chelsea. You would be a fool not to, because it brings us so much.'

Bonds are tightening. There is daily contact, be that between Allach and Michael Emenalo or Bosz and Eddie Newton, the coach responsible for monitoring Chelsea’s army of players on loan, or De Wit and influential Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia.

'They don’t put pressure on us or ask us to do things we don’t like, not at all, I mean that,' said Bosz, who was appointed last year after a meeting in London with Emenalo and Granovskaia.

'They explained how they worked and what they expected. I tell them positions where I’m looking for players, they tell me what they can do for us and we look at whether it’s possible.

'Once we agree for a player to come to us, I have to develop him and in the end we hope they are good enough for Chelsea. They are not saying I have to play them, or I have to play this kind of way. I’m the coach and I decide. But of course we work together.'

Keeping the pace: Vitesse currently sit fourth in the Eredivisie table just one point behind fourth-placed PSV Cees and Jan, Vitesse fans for half a century, do not resent the partnership, which allows them to enjoy watching some of Europe’s best young players in Europe in a successful team playing an exciting brand of attacking football.

They fondly recall time spent by Nemanja Matic in Arnhem before Chelsea sold him to Benfica.



'We call it the Matic tree,' chuckled Cess, pointing to a tall pine behind a goal on the training pitch. The £21million Serb has not been re-signed on account of his shooting.

When Bertrand Traore arrived in January, Vitesse hoped the highly-rated teenager might propel them to their first Dutch title. It has not worked out that way. He has struggled to force his way into the team but Bosz purred: 'He is special. I knew from the moment I first saw him.

'I know at Chelsea they already have the Special One but this is also a special one. He’s gifted. He’s mature. He feels what is necessary. We don’t have to teach him these things.'

Fond memories: Vitesse have a tree named after current Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic (right)

Special One: Vitesse are huge admirers of Bertrand Traore but he has failed to break into the first-team



Player development is at the heart of this partnership struck when Merab Jordania bought Vitesse in 2010, making them the first Dutch club in foreign ownership, at about the time Chelsea were losing faith in the reserve team system in England.

The plot thickened last year when Jordania left for FC Valletta in Malta and passed control to Russian businessman Alexander Chigirinsky, an associate of Abramovich.

'In the Dutch league we are not afraid to play young players,' said Bosz. 'It is the perfect environment for their talent. The football we play is offensive and dominant. We like to press forward and if you are to play with Chelsea it will be the same, you will be dominant, in the half of the opponent.'

Chance: Vitesse coach Peter Bosz says the Dutch league are not afraid to play young players in the Eredivisie

One day it may save Abramovich a fortune in the transfer fees but that moment is not quite upon us.

When asked if Patrick van Aanholt might solve Jose Mourinho’s search for a left-back, Bosz said: 'He’s not ready. You cannot make the mistakes for Chelsea that he is making with us. It is not possible.

'He is progressing and he is not an old player, he is 23. He is fast and has fantastic technique. Going forward he is one of the best but in defence he has to learn a lot if he wants to play for Chelsea. He must be reliable.'

Christian Atsu, a winger signed by Chelsea from Porto for £3.5m last year has impressed after being moved by Bosz into central midfield. Piazon, playing on the left, started the season in a blaze of goals and has faded.



Not ready: Bosz doesn't believe left back Patrick van Aanholt is reliable enough to play for Chelsea yet



Flying Dutchman: Defender Van Aanholt has spent time on loan at Newcastle and Wigan in previous seasons

Loanee: Christian Atsu signed for Chelsea from Porto in a £3.5m deal before being loaned to Vitesse



'When Lucas came, nobody knew him,' said Bosz 'Now coaches say: 'Piazon is important and if we stop him we kill a big part of Vitesse". They mark him close, sometimes a bit mean, the spaces are reduced and he is tired because it is his first season playing game after game.



'Also, the media love him because he is technical and skilful. There is a lot of attention and that is new for him. It’s interesting how he handles that. The new challenge for Lucas is to perform the same. These last steps are the most difficult.'

Vitesse were 15th in 2011, seventh in 2012, fourth last year and are a point behind second placed PSV with five to play. The Champions League beckons, although De Wit insists it is not essential this year, and maybe a date with Chelsea, if UEFA are satisfied the relationship does not break their common ownership rules.

'Our owner and the owner of Chelsea are friends and that’s it,' said De Wit. 'I don’t see any problem. If we ever play in the Champions League against Chelsea, we will go fully for a win. That’s my ambition. We will do everything to beat them. They will have exactly the same approach.'

Relative unknown: Bosz says nobody had really heard of Chelsea's Lucas Piazon when first arrived at Vitesse

Attention: The Dutch media love Piazon's skill and technique, particularly after he started in a blaze of goals



The Champions League would be another coup for the partnership: vital experience at the sharp end for the starlets from Stamford Bridge (who would all be allowed to play if drawn against Chelsea) and a revenue boost for Vitesse, much-needed after losses of more than £35m over the last two years.

They are dangerously close to the Financial Fair Play limits. Wages are more than turnover although next year’s figures will be boosted by transfer sales, including Van Ginkel’s £8m transfer to Chelsea, who pipped Ajax to his signature.

The partnership has advantages at many levels and other wealthy clubs will be tempted to follow.