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)