I turned down chance to sign Dele Alli and Jadon Sancho for Chelsea but I have no regrets

A former Chelsea scout has revealed he passed up on the opportunity to sign Dele Alli, Joe Gomez and Jadon Sancho during his time working at the club.

Chris Robinson began working as an academy scout at Chelsea in May 2012. He held that position he held until June 2015 before becoming head of integration recruitment.

Robinson was responsible for searching for promising players up and down the country until his exit from Stamford Bridge in 2023. During this period, there were opportunities to recruit Sancho, Gomez and Dele but Robinson rejected the idea of bringing the trio to Stamford Bridge for various reasons.

Sancho of course established himself at Borussia Dortmund after leaving Manchester City. Joe Gomez has been part of Liverpool's success during the Jurgen Klopp era and Dele shone during his spell at Tottenham Hotspur.

Explaining how he now reflects on opting against recruiting the aforementioned English stars, Robison told Rising Ballers: «This is a bit embarrassing for me.

I was watching an England game on TV and one of my sons phoned me up and said: 'You do realise you said no to three of these players who are playing for England?' The players were: Dele Alli, who I saw when he was playing first-team football for MK Dons at 17 and I didn't feel he was better than we already had at Chelsea in Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lewis Baker.

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»Was I right? I was at the time, I believe. Dele was a different shape, he was heavier, more of a central midfield player.

«He went to Spurs and blossomed as a player. Lots of other scouts at Chelsea came to the same conclusion, so