A month ago Chelsea had left the talent out of the squad Josh Acheampong. The 18-year-old defender had played with the first team on 24 September in the Carabao Cup against Barrow (5-0) and was available again at the end of November, taking the field with the Under 21s. What had happened? The player, thanks to the interest of some big clubs, did not seem to want to sign a new contract with the Londoners but the situation was finally clarified.
Mister Maresca announced it shortly before the match won against Astana, where Acheampong played the full 90 minutes: “With Josh everything is very clear. We all love Josh, the club loves Josh, I love Josh and we are trying to reach a agreement. We’re close, almost. We’ll see.” For the 2006 class it was his first match as a starter and his third appearance with the ‘seniors’, after making his debut in the Premier League against Tottenham in February, at the age of 17.
Chelsea have always been confident that they could reach an agreement with the player and not lose one of the greatest products of the youth sector. Real Madrid had landed on him, desperately looking for a reinforcement in defense and in particular for the right lane, but also Liverpool (one of the main causes of the contractual conflict between the club and the boy), Newcastle, Tottenham, Paris Saint -Germain and Borussia Dortmund.