It’s often forgotten that, while larger clubs look at our U17 players as happy hunting grounds, we also poach players from smaller Football League academy systems. We’ve always been happy to take from smaller teams and they’ve been fished to the point of unsustainably. We can’t really be too upset when it happens to us. It’s the way it works with 16 year olds.
I don’t really see that there’s anything to do about it either. They shouldn’t be signing binding contracts at that age and should be free to play wherever wants them. If Dibbling blew out his knees next week and his career is over before it starts, we’re not going to take care of him financially. Neither would Chelsea. They absolutely should maximise their earnings for their labour while they can. Plus, they know that if they manage their pro deals sensibly, they can absolutely force moves or walk away at age 20 and get game time elsewhere if they feel there’s no pathway.