Chelsea vs Everton: Guus Hiddink prefers promoting players rather than spend money in January

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has admitted that he is not a big fan of signing players during the ongoing midseason transfer window and labeled the same as "desperate". He believes it is better to promote young talent from within the club to compliment the more experienced players already with the first-team squad.

Chelsea currently have 31 players on loan with other clubs, while players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Kenedy have been retained by the club with a view to providing them a chance to shine with the first team. However, the young players at the club have struggled to make the grade, with the former managing just 62 minutes of Premier League football thus far this campaign.

Former manager Jose Mourinho had predicted a bright future for Loftus-Cheek following his promotion to the first team but failed to give him ample opportunities, while also criticising the youngster for his lack of work rate during a pre-season game. The midfielder though is getting more opportunities under Hiddink, who was speaking ahead Chelsea's clash against Everton on Saturday (16 January).

The manager believes it is not worth having an academy, if a club can't provide opportunities to the young players. The former Russia national team coach, however, made it clear that the youth team players must prove their credentials to get promoted to the senior setup.

"You must be rather desperate to bring in players in January," Hiddink said, as quoted by the Guardian.

"In principle I'm in favour to bring in young players. They must have a certain level. Recently we brought in Loftus-Cheek and Kenedy. If the circumstances allow, that's what we will do. I'd prefer to do that in the winter period than bringing in certain names. If you have this academy, the facilities and the training programme, one day it must produce. If not, it is not worth having an academy."

"Not much. But I don't want the team to get unstable when the more experienced players perform. Every now and then we will give one a rest but I don't want to make the first team a birdcage where everyone can fly in and out easily. It needs to be stable. Young players feel the help of the more experienced players," the Dutch manager added.