Colchester United boss Ben Garner on securing young talent
COLCHESTER United head coach Ben Garner admits it is important they protect themselves as a club by securing their talented young players on appropriate contracts.
Talented wing-back Jayden Fevrier has recently committed himself to the U’s by signing a new deal until the summer of 2025.
The 20-year-old followed the lead of teenage striker Samson Tovide, who last month penned a fresh two-year deal with an additional year option at Colchester.
READ MORE: Jayden Fevrier was League Two’s best in two areas last weekend
The U’s have just sold academy product Junior Tchamadeu to Championship side Stoke City, for an undisclosed fee.
And with teenage forward Bradley Ihionvien reportedly being tracked by a number of top clubs, boss Garner says they want to ensure they want to keep hold of their prize assets, while at the same time giving them opportunities to shine.
Garner said: “I think it’s important as a club now that we’re securing our best talents.
“We don’t want to be a club where we give people opportunities but then they’re out of contract and walk out of the door or go for not much money.
“We want to protect ourselves, on that front.
READ MORE: ‘League Two is the strongest it’s been in years…but then so is our squad’
“Yes, we’re giving opportunity but ideally what we want with Jayden and Samson signing new deals is these young players to help us build a successful team and take Colchester United forward.
“If we can’t or don’t do that in a season, then there’s opportunities for them to go and play at a higher level as has happened with Junior (Tchamadeu) with financial gain for the club and those players go on with our best wishes.”
Colchester’s youngsters shone in their 2-0 triumph over Tranmere Rovers, last weekend.
Fevrier was man of the match while fellow 20-year-old Joe Taylor scored the U’s opening goal, before teenager Ihionvien came off the bench to score their second.
And at the other end, goalkeeper Owen Goodman, centre-back Zach Mitchell and wing-back Al-Amin Kazeem played their part in Colchester keeping a clean sheet while academy duo Tovide and Noah Chilvers also performed well.
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Garner added: “The young players have been a real positive for us.
“Jayden did well towards the end of last season and was pushing on.
“We spoke at the end of last season in terms of the physical condition we wanted to see him come back in, which he’s done and he’s taken his opportunities in pre-season and taken it into the season and done really well.”
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