34. Josh Acheampong

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How Chelsea and Josh Acheampong agreed a new contract — a deal that was a long time coming

By Simon Johnson

3h ago

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In the 13th minute of Josh Acheampong’s first ever start at Stamford Bridge, he dribbled between two Shamrock Rovers’ players to loud “oohs” and “aahs” of appreciation from Chelsea fans.

This was an image and sound that seemed a long way off not so long ago. The 18-year-old found himself in the awkward position of being left out of all Chelsea squads, at senior and academy level, for two months while talks over a new deal showed little sign of reaching a positive conclusion.

But any angst was clearly in the past during Chelsea’s 5-1 win over Shamrock Rovers as the defender exuded all the confidence you would want from any academy graduate, just a day after news of a new contract was confirmed by the club. It is the result both sides ultimately wanted but took a bit longer than perhaps anyone expected.

An indication of just how much Acheampong’s future was a priority within Chelsea can be seen from when discussions first began to take place. Acheampong, who has been at the club since under-8 level, made his professional debut as a late substitute under previous head coach Mauricio Pochettino in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Tottenham in May. Sources who have knowledge of the situation, speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships, have revealed talks were opened between Chelsea and his representatives a month later.

Chelsea’s decision to get things underway so early in the summer was obviously partly because of his talent. Acheampong signed his first pro deal (in January) and it ran until 2026. Due to his rapid progress, the club naturally wanted to ensure he would remain longer than that, especially with Champions League clubs already showing an interest.

But Chelsea have also now made it their policy that all first team and academy players (aged 18 upwards), who have under two years left on their contracts, must come to an agreement with the club on their future or face being sold.

Why is that?

Chelsea do not want to be disrupted by players winding down their deals and all the uncertainty caused by discussions over a renewal. For example, since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in May 2022, Mason Mount (Manchester United) and Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid) have been sold by Chelsea amid much public scrutiny when they had only 12 months remaining on their agreements. Several rounds of talks were held with both England internationals before it reached that point but no extension was ever finalised. The hierarchy do not want to risk a repeat of that.

 

(Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

So back to Acheampong. The club see him as the third-choice right-back behind captain Reece James and Malo Gusto (as well as someone who can perform at centre-back). Significantly, Acheampong was included on Chelsea’s pre-season tour to the USA in July under new head coach Enzo Maresca. It sent a significant message of how highly he is regarded, especially with the more experienced Trevoh Chalobah left behind and effectively told to find a new club. The 25-year-old Chalobah, who has made 80 appearances for Chelsea after also coming through the youth ranks, is currently on a season-long loan at Crystal Palace.

Maresca clearly liked what he saw from Acheampong early on, too. He played for the first time under the Italian during the 5-0 win over Barrow in the EFL Cup in September, making his second appearance for Chelsea as a substitute, replacing the experienced Axel Disasi just after the hour mark.

So from this very positive situation, how did things not get resolved sooner? Well, many contract negotiations involve a lot of back and forth, with both sides wanting certain aspects going their way. For example, Chelsea wanted Acheampong to sign up for three more years, longer than his advisors initially wanted.

This was the biggest obstacle to overcome. Chelsea did not want to just add one or two years to the current 2026 deal because it would soon require another negotiation. Besides, if Chelsea’s best player Cole Palmer is prepared to commit to 2033 they felt others should be in the mindset to stay for many years as well.

In turn, Acheampong’s camp craved assurances about there being a pathway to play for the senior side — without making any over the top demands about being picked regularly in the Premier League. There was concern that despite the club regarding Acheampong as third in the pecking order of right-backs, he did not even make the bench at West Ham and Bournemouth when both James and Gusto were unavailable for selection through injury. Centre-backs Wesley Fofana and Disasi were played out of position there instead. Not being selected as a right-back in the first XI was not so much the issue, it was not even being included as a substitute that caused some alarm. It raised the question whether he was actually behind Disasi and Fofana for a right-sided berth, as well as James and Gusto.

 

Acheampong in action against Shamrock Rovers (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Sources stress that talks took place regularly between the two sides while Acheampong was not representing the academy or senior teams (injury was not a factor for his absence) and a a major breakthrough was made last month. A sign of that was provided by the sight of Acheampong training with Maresca’s UEFA Conference League squad before the fixture against Heidenheim on November 27, albeit he was not included on the trip to Germany. Two days later he represented the Under-21s for the first time since September.

Key to the turnaround was the lobbying of co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, co-director of recruitment and talent Joe Shields, plus technical director of Chelsea’s academy Glenn van der Kraan. Maresca had a role in it too by calling a meeting with Acheampong to reassure him he would get to play under him. The Italian has not just shown his admiration privately. He has said on more than one occasion in press conferences this season how much he “loves Josh”. He does not want him to leave on loan either.

It also helped that Acheampong’s desire was always to stay at Chelsea. In return for agreeing to the club’s request to a three-year extension, Acheampong was given a slight improvement on the financial terms that were proposed initially — although his salary still sits in the club’s wage structure for the older players at academy level.

Shamrock Rovers was actually Acheampong’s second start for Chelsea having made his full debut in the UEFA Conference League at Astana the previous week. Just hours before kick-off against Shamrock Rovers, Chelsea posted a video on social media of Maresca giving a speech inside the senior dressing room at Cobham. It was to officially acknowledge that Acheampong, plus another academy talent Tyrique George, have been given their own lockers there alongside the other first-team players.

 

It put a nice full stop to the story and Acheampong showed what all the fuss is about with an exemplary 90 minutes in front of the home fans on Thursday.

“My goal is to be known as a club legend,” he said in an interview published by Chelsea earlier in the day. With his contract sorted out, he can fully concentrate on his attempt to do just that.

(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

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Despite the result, I think he was really quite good today. Calm on the ball and did what was asked of him in defence. Promising start to his premier league career... Hope to see a lot more from him. If we are back to Disassi or Tosin next match I might lose my mind.

[Special Juan 28,087]

Maresca has already stated he won't be used all the time and eased in, makes me furious, if he has played well then he has earned it

Usual suspects will walk back into the side, but Ach should be starting at the weekend without doubt

 

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

3 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Maresca has already stated he won't be used all the time and eased in, makes me furious, if he has played well then he has earned it

Usual suspects will walk back into the side, but Ach should be starting at the weekend without doubt

 

Cause the results haven’t been great I fear your right, Maresca will rely on Tosin & Disasi who are both shocking footballers.

[Strike 7,474]

He was so composed at CB. But I always thought he was a fullback at youth level, wasn't he?

[King Kante 1,643]

12 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Maresca has already stated he won't be used all the time and eased in, makes me furious, if he has played well then he has earned it

Usual suspects will walk back into the side, but Ach should be starting at the weekend without doubt

 

Depends. He may be saying this, to try and get Josh to keep his levels/desire up as Enzo does seem to put a lot of value on training performances. 

Imo, I cannot see him using Disaster much more as he is too much of a liability. 

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23 hours ago, Strike said:

He was so composed at CB. But I always thought he was a fullback at youth level, wasn't he?

around 2/3rds RB

1/3rd CB

a few games as a RMF

Stats 24/25

 

Stats 23/24

 

Stats 22/23

 

Stats 21/22

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Short…listed: A short recommendation. After adding Finn Jeltsch to your shortlist last week, I fancy adding another right-sided defender. Get used to hearing about Josh Acheampong. When it comes to emerging prospects from the Chelsea academy — of which there are many — there are few more exciting than the 18-year-old defender. Watch him on the pitch and you’ll be taken aback by two things: one, his lanky size and two, his smooth athleticism. Both shouldn’t go together, but they do — he has a tremendous coordination of his lanky limbs that manifests in speed, agility and control. They are also the bedrock of his defensive ability, where his eye-catching length enables him to win duels in the air and on the ground, lurching over the top of strikers to head the ball back or stretching a leg in to jab the ball away. You’ll be even more moved when you see him stride through midfield with the ball. He has that in his locker, taking two or three defenders out of the game at a time. He’s also composed and confident as a manipulator and passer. For such a lanky frame, his ability on the ball is clean and smooth. All in all, Acheampong is a complete package that is very much suited to the modern game. In terms of pathway, he might have to follow the Levi Colwill route. He went on loan to the Championship as an 18-year-old and had an excellent season at Huddersfield Town. It proved to be a launchpad for his career, going on to impress on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion before establishing himself as a regular starter and occasional captain at Chelsea. Acheampong has all the skill and potential to do similar. But, quite frankly, Chelsea should just put their trust in himright now. Give him opportunities, chuck him in when and where needed. If they do that, they'll save themselves a lot of time, hassle, money, and embarrassment.

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Chelsea’s Acheampong feels the love from Maresca – and this time, it’s not tough

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6271483/2025/04/11/josh-acheampong-Chelsea-legia-warsaw-analysis/

The question was about Tyrique George. Enzo Maresca was happy to engage with it and to praise his winger, but he really wanted to talk about another Chelsea teenager.

“I’m very happy first of all for the Chelsea academy because it’s one of our boys from the academy, so I’m very happy for him,” Maresca said of 19-year-old George in his press conference after a 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final tie on Thursday. “He was quite good in the first half, taking responsibility. Then, second half in the middle (as a No 9), he was a bit better.

“But the one that I fell in love (with) is Josh Acheampong because potentially, he can be a fantastic player, a top player for this club, (and) for football in general. A good player shows you they can play in different positions and do good. He was a full-back, good, midfielder, good, central defender, good, so it’s not about, ‘I play in that position or in that position’ — if you are a good player, you can be in different positions.

“Since we started, I’m in love with him, but (against Legia) he showed that he can be a very good player.”

Love affairs, like footballers, are rarely linear in their development. Maresca signalled his high regard for Acheampong by assessing him during Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States, and then again by elevating him back into the first-team picture soon after his contract standoff, which had frozen him out of match action, was resolved in December.

 

Acheampong impressed against Legia Warsaw (Piotr Hawalej/Getty Images)

A first Premier League start followed away at Crystal Palace in early January and Maresca promptly labelled Acheampong the best player on the pitch in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park. Within 10 days, the perception of his trajectory had changed — Acheampong struggled against a rampant Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge and Maresca substituted him in the 71st minute, shortly after he had failed to contain Antoine Semenyo for the visitors’ second goal in a 2-2 draw.

In almost three months between that game and Thursday in Warsaw, Acheampong has been on the pitch for 55 minutes across three matches. His only start, against Copenhagen at Stamford Bridge in the Conference League round of 16 last month, ended at half-time. Maresca insisted the substitution was down to broader tactical considerations, but his choice left little room to envision a significant role for the 18-year-old in the defining stretch of Chelsea’s season.

Beyond that, Acheampong’s rapid rise and equally precipitous fall in the first two weeks of January lent itself to the more cynical notion that Maresca might have wanted to send a message to Chelsea about the need for defensive reinforcements in the winter market. Wesley Fofana was out and centre-back targets, most notably Palace’s Marc Guehi, were being explored.

Maresca would not have been the first Chelsea coach to deploy such methods, but his appreciation of Acheampong has always felt sincere, fitting neatly into his specific veneration of versatility in high-level footballers. Can you understand the game in multiple positions and can you perform in multiple roles during a match?

Acheampong showcased those qualities in abundance against Legia. Starting at right-back but operating for the most part as the right of a three-man defence in possession, his decision-making with and without the ball was almost flawless. When the opportunity arose to carry the ball forward amid a steady diet of safe possessional passes, he pushed himself through and around pressure with a progressive first touch.

Chelsea’s best chance of an otherwise forgettable first half came from an Acheampong surge: having driven into a crossing position on the right, he cut the ball back perfectly into the unmarked feet of Cole Palmer. When the England international’s shot was smothered, the ball ran free for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who forced a flying save with a curling effort.

During the second half, Maresca’s substitutions pushed Acheampong into the base of midfield from defence and the 18-year-old bounced passes unerringly to Chelsea team-mates amid the traffic. On the very rare occasions when he misread the terrain, club captain Reece James was on hand to dispense some constructive advice. It found willing ears.

“The best thing about Josh is that he’s open, he wants to learn,” Maresca added after the Legia win. “’Full-back? ‘No problem, what do I have to do?’. Perfect, midfielder, ‘What do I have to do?’. Good players want to play in all positions, they want to learn, and Josh is doing that since we started.”

 

Maresca was delighted with Acheampong after the match (Piotr Hawalej/Getty Images)

Such praise is hugely encouraging for Acheampong but also a positive development for Maresca, who has not always come across as enthusiastic about Chelsea’s academy talent. His touchline frustration with George has been startlingly visible at times and his comments about Chelsea’s struggles to create in the first half against Copenhagen in the previous round seemed to draw a straight line to the presence of George and Shim Mheuka in the team.

But George has been developing under Maresca, gaining confidence as well as knowledge. At 17, Mheuka is even younger but added more meaningful first-team minutes off the bench against Legia. Conference League football is close to an ideal proving ground given Chelsea’s vast superiority over all of their opponents and their head coach has generally found the right balance of game time.

Love can be productive, even when it could be called tough, and Maresca’s nuanced handling of Acheampong and George may have given Chelsea two more players capable of meaningful contributions. It could even help Chelsea achieve the dual goals of a top-five Premier League finish and lifting the Conference League. Considering the stakes on both fronts, that is no small benefit.

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https://www.talkchelsea.net/opinions/Chelsea-must-sell-malo-gusto-to-give-his-minutes-to-josh-acheampong-opinion/