Birmingham City are considering scrapping their academy and moving towards the controversial B team model.
The shock news comes just days after it was confirmed academy manager Kristjaan Speakman has moved on to become sporting director at Sunderland.
The development also comes just months after Jude Bellingham left Blues having come through the age groups and broken all kinds of records both for Blues and new club Borussia Dortmund, whilst also winning his first senior caps for England under Gareth Southgate.
Blues are believed to have landed almost £30million as a result of developing Bellingham and selling him on to Dortmund.
Bellingham has expressed his disappointment at the decision on Twitter and CEO Xuandong Ren quickly responded to him.
"Chill Jude, we haven't retired anything this time," wrote Ren in an attempt to amuse supporters rather than allay their fears.
Blues' academy has a rich history of producing talented players with Bellingham following Nathan Redmond, Jack Butland and Demarai Gray who have all risen through the ranks at Wast Hills in recent years.
The club is now set to explore a different model of youth development, with a B and C team, similar to a set-up adopted by Brentford in 2016.
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This news also comes three months after Blues had applied for Category One academy status.
Speaking in September, Ren said: “We are extremely proud of our academy programme and it represents the backbone of our football structure.
“Whilst the Category Two conditions were sufficient for our strategy, we have continued to invest and surpass the requirements for this level. Following a comprehensive review over the last 12 months, we feel the time is right to make the final changes to our infrastructure and processes allowing us the opportunity of becoming a Category One Club.
“We will work hard to make this a reality and achieve this prestigious award.”