Colchester United boss Danny Cowley will use funds wisely

The U’s have recently sold two of their best players, Jayden Fevrier and Jay Mingi, to Stockport County, both for undisclosed fees.

Both players were under contract meaning money coming back into the club, along with potential sell on fees in the future.

READ MORE: Ex-Colchester defender signs for National League South side

The departure of Fevrier and Mingi follows that of Junior Tchamadeu, who left the U’s to join Championship club Stoke City last September for a substantial fee.

Cowley says the cash will come back into the club at different levels, including the first-team budget.

Cowley said: “Everything comes back into the club.

“Robbie (Cowling) is always clear on how important the club is to him and obviously, the local community.

“He reinvests all of the money that he gets back into the club and invests his own money into the club, as everybody is well aware.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

“The academy is a very, very important part of this football club.

“For this club to achieve the success that we all want it to have, the importance of developing young players is going to be paramount, in this process.

“So, it does come back into the club; it comes back into the club at different levels, so part of it comes back in at academy level, part of it into the first-team budget and part of it goes to keep developing all of the provisions that support the academy and first-team players.

“I think it’s for us all to understand how to use it wisely.

READ MORE: Danny Cowley feels sale of duo was 'good business' for U's

“It’s my 16th year as a manager and I started with a budget at Concord Rangers of £800 and that was everybody that was involved – physios, coaches, players.

“That was a weekly budget and I spent every penny like it was my own.

“I’ve done that even once I got to Championship level and the numbers were a bit bigger, because you can only spend it once.

“I think you have to decide that with the finance that you have available, how does this equate into points?

“Every penny you spend has to equate to ultimately helping the team and the club have success.

“We have a clear strategy on how we want to do that.”

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

Cowley says Colchester have a reputation within the game for nurturing talented young players.

The U’s boss says they must now maintain this, while also achieving first-team success.

Cowley added: “I think you look back at the club and look at Sammie Szmodics and since then, Junior (Tchamadeu) last year and Jay and Jayden at the beginning of this window; you look at boys that we have in the building, the likes of Samson (Tovide) and Bradley (Ihionvien).

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“The world of football knows that there’s a lot of good young players at Colchester United.

“We have a conveyor belt of young talent which is fantastic and now the next challenge for us as a football club is to continue to develop this model but also find a way of having consistent success at first-team level, in terms of performance on the pitch.”