By Henry Winter Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones flew into rain-swept Jutland here last night, fresh from their respective medicals at Liverpool and Manchester United, not realising they lead a revolution in English youth development. Premier League chairmen meet on Friday to discuss enhancing an academy system which has already produced players of the money-spinning calibre of Henderson and Jones. The combined fee for the pair passes £30 million, vindicating the investment in academies at Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers and encouraging clubs to take the system to a new level with the Elite Player Performance Plan being voted on Friday. “It is an endorsement of the good work going on in the academy system that academies are developing players of the quality of Henderson and Jones, and attracting that level of interest from that level of clubs,’’ a Premier League spokesman said. “What we need to do is to develop even more of those players and that is what the Elite Player Performance Plan is designed to do.” The proposal is to allow clubs to house the best teenagers in boarding schools on their academy bases, giving them more intensive footballing tuition. A skills-based syllabus would also bring English clubs more into line with their continental counterparts like Barcelona, who work longer with their younger players. The substantial fees for Henderson and Jones are partly a reflection on the inflated premium paid for English propsects. Yet both Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson have done their due diligence and know they are getting good characters as well as good players. The resale value for Henderson, 20, and Jones, 19, will also be considerable, lending greater logic to the fees. From an England perspective, it is positive news that home-grown talent is being cherished and coveted and that the money stays in English football. For the Under-21s coach Stuart Pearce, it is pleasing that Henderson and Jones will not be distracted during the imminent European Championship by speculation about their future. Pearce wanted all negotiations and transfers sorted before training begins in earnest here today. Inevitably, though, there will be focus on two of his other players, Connor Wickham and Jack Rodwell, who are being linked with moves to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively. For all the gloom surrounding Fabio Capello’s seniors, Pearce’s juniors are in upbeat mood, genuinely believing they can do well in a tough group that begins on Sunday against Spain on the beautiful surface of FC Midtjylland’s neat little ground in Herning. “We’ve improved,’’ reflected Pearce. “The likes of Henderson and Jones have come in in the last nine months, and there have been a lot of players come to the party. I’m very buoyed by it. "Every time I have the likes of Smalling and Jones and Henderson and Sturridge and so on, strangely enough we seem to win. I’m interested to see how they do, as a man and collectively.” So will a legion of scouts and managers. The European Under-21s is a shop window for many, and billed by Uefa as “Stars of today, Superstars of tomorrow”, which is one reason why such canny operators as Dalglish and Ferguson wanted their respective Henderson and Jones deals done early. If Henderson and Jones excel out here, their value will rise. With players of their quality, Pearce is hopeful of a good tournament. England reached the final in Malmo last time when they were thrashed by a gifted German side including Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Manuel Neuer. “I probably knew exactly the standard of the team that I had before I went into the tournament two years ago,’’ Pearce said. “This group, I’m not sure what I’ve got, and I mean that in a good way, because I think they can get better and better as a group. I’ve been absolutely delighted with their standard of training. The camaraderie with this group’s been fantastic.” Pearce has still had to deal with the frustration of another Arsenal player withdrawing. Kieran Gibbs yesterday pulled out with an ankle problem aggravated in the victory over Norway at St Mary’s on Sunday. It is clearly a genuine injury. Pearce confirmed that Gibbs “is in a medical boot” and England sources say there is “nothing sinister” about the Arsenal defender joining Jack Wilshere amongst the absentees. Pearce could have made representations to Uefa to replace Gibbs but knows that whoever he called up would not be match-fit and he also has Danny Rose to understudy Ryan Bertrand. Yet Pearce could have called in another striker, which England ran out of last time. The gaps in his squad should be noted by those looking to improve the academy system tomorrow. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-revolution-in-English-youth-development.html