Vitesse sporting director Johannes Spors insists the Dutch club are “no satellite club” and just have a “good relationship” with Premier League side Chelsea.
The Eredivisie side, who are currently fourth in the league, have benefitted hugely from taking a number of Chelsea players on loan over the last decade.
The likes of Mason Mount, Patrick van Aanholt, Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traore spent time in Holland before going on to be successful at Chelsea or elsewhere.
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There have now taken 29 players on loan from Chelsea over the past decade with Armando Broja the latest player to join Vitesse in August.
That has led to Vitesse being labelled as a ‘feeder club’ to the Blues but Spors says it’s purely down to “good contact between the clubs”.
“The owners know each other well; that’s the starting point,” Spors told Goal. “That’s where it comes from. Honestly, there’s not so much more to it than that. We have good contact.
“I have good contact with (Chelsea’s technical/performance advisor) Petr Cech, as I have known him for quite some time. We sometimes share thoughts, talk about football, their players and our players. There’s good communication. Honestly, though, I have a lot of these kinds of conversations with other big clubs.
“It is just a good contact between the clubs. Everyone knows we are no satellite club, there are no contracts and these things have never happened. It is just a good conversation between the clubs and we, Vitesse, are very happy about that.
“It is good to have a big club like Chelsea to share thoughts with. I have been here for one year and the history of loan players is important. We have to still make sure that everyone is convinced that it is the right step.
“I really had to fight for (Chelsea striker) Armando Broja, it was not like I wanted Armando and Chelsea said, ‘Here you go!’ No, I had to really convince him. If he said no, it is no! I had to convince Chelsea that we thought he was ready for that.
“It is a good relationship. Nothing happens because of the owners but it opens doors, let’s say.”
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