Report: Brentford to sign Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran

Follow us on Google Discover

The 22-year-old Blues graduate was once touted as a future England star.

Brentford are to continue their recruitment process this summer by completing the impressive signing of Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran, according to BBC Sport.

Having come through the Blues academy, the BBC say McEachran will cost £750,000, and will become the club’s sixth summer signing.

The former England Under-21 star has previously been very highly thought of at Stamford Bridge, having made his debut as far back as 2010.

But the 22-year-old has struggled to build on his earlier games for the Blues, and McEachran has endured several loan spells that have done little to bring him up to the level where he would have challenged for a first team role at Chelsea.

The club continued to keep the central midfielder on their books though, with each of the club’s managers seeing huge potential in his game.

A lot of loans but still capable of becoming a superb player

Last year, McEachran took in his fifth loan in four years at Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands, yet he spent a fairly sizeable portion of the season in the Eredivisie club’s reserves. It was the only the last few games where he returned to the starting lineup and impressed with three assists.

The rest of those short term moves away have largely disappointed. The midfielder got a lot of football under his belt at Middlesbrough in 2012-13, but his other spells have often yielded barely more than 10 games.

Nevertheless, there is real talent there for Brentford to acquire. If the Bees can provide a stable place for McEachran to put his roots down and develop, they could be getting a player who at one point was compared to the likes of Jack Wilshere and Liam Brady.

Whether he can in fact come good on those comparisons remains to be seen, but as a side that are looking to build on their playoff placing last season, someone like the Chelsea man, who still has plenty of years with which to improve, could be an inspired signing for the Bees.