Middlesbrough and Chelsea confirmed yesterday that central midfielder Josh McEachran would be heading to the Riverside for a year long loan.
The highly rated teenager is just one of the new generation of playmaking English academy products alongside Jack Wilshere, Tom Cleverley and Ross Barkley pushing their way through to the highest level.
McEachran turned 19 last year but his name seems to have been around for a long time already with many aware of his potential whilst just a Chelsea academy player. Unable to break into Chelsea’s first team squad on a regular basis last season, McEachran and Chelsea decided it would be in the players best interests to seek a loan move. Swansea was the destination but the youngster failed to break his way into the established midfield trio of Leon Britton, Joe Allen and Gylfi Sigurdsson and left the Liberty with just five appearances to his name.
Once again McEachran has found himself surplus to requirements for the Blues first team this year, with the club opting to purchase expensive midfield talent instead. Lampard, Mikel, Romeu, Ramires, Oscar and Meireles. Six players currently ahead of McEachran in the pecking order, all fighting it out for one of two central midfield spots.
Having signed a new deal with Chelsea in 2011 alongside fellow academy product, Ryan Bertrand, it is interesting to compare the huge difference in their career progression. McEachran’s ill-fated spell at Swansea was his most recent foray into competitive football; Meanwhile Ryan Bertrand found himself lining up against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final back in May.
McEachran’s new development path should not be seen as a failure on the part of the player, with this move just another example of the template many top clubs have chosen to follow, making full use of the loan system to offer players the chance to gain experience in competitive football.
Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley is a fantastic example of how a spell in the lower leagues can bring a young players game on leaps and bounds. Cleverley played for Leicester and Watford in the Championship during the 2009/10 season before moving onto a loan spell at Wigan in 2010/11. The rise continued last season as he began to push for a regular starting place in the Manchester United midfield before injury struck.
Likewise McEachran can take inspiration from former Swansea team mate Steven Caulker of Spurs. Caulker’s footballing upbringing has included spells across League One, the Championship and The Premier League with Yeovil, Bristol City and Swansea respectively. The skills that the centre back has gained from his time elsewhere have helped to establish himself in the Tottenham first team squad.
At Middlesbrough he will gain much needed first team football and battling for a side challenging for the title can only translate to greater understanding of the task at hand at a club the size of Chelsea. The club is a good fit for the player, with Tony Mowbray favouring an attacking approach with good football on show the majority of the time.
McEachran’s reputation is based largely on the plaudits received from some of the worlds top coaches. Carlo Ancelotti was quoted as saying ‘He can play in the first team now, without problem’ when McEachran was just 17 years of age and Andre Villas-Boas described him as an ‘immense talent’.
Boro’s home game against Burnley tomorrow night could mark the debut of the Chelsea youngster and he will certainly want to take his chance to prove any doubters wrong. It is unusual to drop down a league in loan spells but McEachran has the talent to bounce back and re-establish himself in the Premier League. Until then he has to showcase his abilities for Boro and repay the faith set to be shown from Mowbray, who has promised to play him this season on a regular basis.
Sometimes players have to step back to move forward. This could well be the beginning of something special if McEachran can make the most of his opportunity.
image: © steenbergs
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