Josh Acheampong and Enzo Maresca (Photo by Ryan Pierse, Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Chelsea are reportedly close to agreeing a new contract with talented young defender Josh Acheampong, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Blues will no doubt be aware that they have a big talent on their hands with Acheampong, who is still only 18 years of age but who is clearly also already on Enzo Maresca’s radar.
Acheampong has only two senior Chelsea appearances to his name, but Romano’s X post below quotes Maresca as saying the England youth international is set to get a chance in their upcoming Europa Conference League game.
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See below for details, with Romano also stating that CFC are now just working on the final details of a new deal for Acheampong…
?? The agreement between Chelsea and Josh Acheampong over new deal is almost done.#CFC explained again their future view, final details to be sorted.
Maresca confirmed: “The club loves Josh. I love Josh. We are almost there for his new deal. He’s set to start tomorrow”. pic.twitter.com/3RRwpbU7q4
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 11, 2024
Acheampong can play centre-back or right-back and so should have chances to stake his claim in those positions soon.
Chelsea’s current project is built around recruiting the best young players in world football, but the west London giants have also shown that there’s room for homegrown talents to make the step up as well.
Can Josh Acheampong be Chelsea’s next academy success story?
Josh Acheampong with former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino last season
Josh Acheampong with former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino last season (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Acheampong will be looking to replicate what other Chelsea academy graduates have done in recent years, with the likes of Reece James and Levi Colwill now key first-team players.
Before them, the likes of Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher also had important roles, while there were also opportunities for the likes of Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevoh Chalobah and Fikayo Tomori before they left to continue their careers elsewhere.
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CFC supporters will be excited about Acheampong and what he can do for the club, so it’s certainly encouraging news that things are going well in terms of him committing his future to the Blues.
Maresca is clearly a fan of Acheampong and it will be interesting to see if he can make the most of his upcoming opportunity and gain more playing time.