Earlier this summer we kept hearing some insidious rumours regarding a certain Frank Arnesen trying to take a soon-to-be out of contract Josh McEachran away from Chelsea and to the Bundesliga with Hamburg. Said rumours seem to have died down of late, but without the young midfielder signing a new contract with the Blues, it was always a real worry that someone would poach him away.
Worry no more, though, as (as I'm sure you've been able to gather from the title) young Josh McEachran has been signed to a five year contract extension, which, if I'm doing my maths correctly, will keep him at the club until he's 16. Not one to be left out, left back Ryan Bertrand has signed a four-year contract to keep him at Chelsea in his attempt to usurp England's Ashley Cole. But McEachran's more important, to England and to Chelsea, so he's the one who gets the quote:
It is good to be offered this sort of contract. It is what I wished for when I was a kid and hopefully I will spend my career at Chelsea. I have wanted to do that since I was a kid, since I joined when I was eight years old. It will be good if I do but I need to keep working. This season my target is just to play more minutes. Hopefully I will play more games and keep improving.
-Josh McEachran. Source: ChelseaFC.com
This is all fantastic news, of course. It's easy to fall in love with McEachran's overall game - his vision and passing range are already the best on the squad, and his technical skills and tackling are rapidly improving too. With Chelsea's academy failing to develop a true youth player in some time, it'd be wonderful to see McEachran stay with the club for a good long while yet. And Bertrand's not half bad, either. It's currently unclear what the financial figures are like, but should we ever get them we'll let you know,