Chelsea must use perfect window to tie down exceptional youth player to long term contract

Chelsea must seize this chance to offer a long deal to rising star Josh Acheampong to tie him to the club long term.

One of our major talking points after the weekend’s win over Everton was Josh Acheampong. The defender got a second Premier League start in a row, showing that he’s keeping Welsey Fofana out of the team because of technical decision from Xabi Alonso, rather than any sort of rest or rotation policy.

The young defender was excellent in the game, showing again what he can do when he’s trusted with a start.

Chelsea have perfect window to tie defender to new deal

He’s good enough that we’re convinced that spot is his to lose now, and good enough to get a piece written about him by Nizaar Kinsella for the BBC.

Kinsella notes that Acheampong’s current contract expires in the summer of 2029, which will come around pretty fast. Chelsea would be smarter to act now and get him on a mega-deal into the 2030s while he’s in a good moment and playing regularly.

It will be much harder to convince him to commit when he’s in a period out of the first team again. We all know he’s top level, sign him up and keep playing him and whatever you’re paying him will start to look cheap.

In other news…

There were three very positive things we saw in the Everton game which hinted that this Chelsea team may have turned a corner.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper pecking order has been reshaped for a while by the injury to Emi Martinez.