The second day of the Leaders in Football conference took place at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, with high involvement from two Chelsea figures.

Chairman Bruce Buck and chief scout and director of youth development Frank Arnesen both addressed the audience on the topic of attracting the best talent to football clubs.

Buck outlined the aims of the club since being acquired by Roman Abramovich in July 2003, to win trophies and develop talent, predominantly English.

'One of our priorities is finding young English players. They settle more quickly and understand the culture and dynamics of the English game,' he said.

"Money goes a long way but it doesn't necessarily get you over the line. We couldn't simply buy a bunch of galacticos, we wanted to build a team, not a collection of great players.'

Arnesen expanded on his job role, and talked delegates through the Chelsea scouting model and how talent is identified both locally and further afield, explaining the financial benefits of an effective Academy that can develop one player for the first team squad every 18 months, as opposed to having to buy in expensive talent each summer. 

They were followed by a speech from Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), an organisation with which we share close links.

He discussed in depth the AFC's Vision China and Vision Asia projects, both supported by Chelsea, in both improving the infrastructure in the region with input on coaching, administration and sports science, and in the initiation of new city leagues in China.

'I am proud to say that one of our major partners and sponsors is Chelsea Football Club who signed with us an agreement as partner to Vision Asia as a clear demonstration to how elite clubs can provide assistance to develop football in Asia and the world,' he said.

Mr. Bin Hammam, from a continent of some 3.9 billion people, also commented on the increasing number of visits from English clubs to his confederation, something we did over the summer with matches played in China and Malaysia.

'When any club from the Premier League visits Asia, the fans of Asia are the biggest winner. But also national associations, clubs, coaches, referees are witnessing on the ground what the clubs from Europe [do],' he began.

'I always welcome that these clubs are coming to Asia, bringing with them their experiences and knowhow and passing it to the administrators, referees, players and coaches, leaving something behind.'

With over 1,000 delegates present at the international business summit, there have been plenty of chances for networking and companies to demonstrate what they can offer, as well as individuals being able to compare and contrast styles, learning as they go.

Deemed a huge success already by organisers, plans are in place for a repeat event in 2009.