Football's Nearly Men - Josh McEachran

 

Joshua Mark McEachran was born on the 1st of March 1993 in Oxford and began playing football for Garden City in the Oxford Mail Boys League, where he was spotted by a Chelsea scout. He joined their academy at the age of seven before signing a two-year scholarship deal prior to the beginning of the 2009-10 season. His star was at its highest in 2010, when he helped the Blues youth side lift the FA Youth Cup for the first time in almost 50 years, and weeks later won the Under-17 European Championships with England and was named in the team of the tournament. When the young midfielder returned to Chelsea that summer, he was officially integrated into the senior set-up under Carlo Ancelotti. His debut came against MSK Zilina in the Champions League; a ten-minute cameo with the game won. His second appearance arrived a week later in front of a packed Stamford Bridge. Josh says, "It’s well known that before I signed my first professional deal with Chelsea, Real Madrid had a five-year contract on the table for me. But obviously I decided to stay at Chelsea because I was close to the first team. After that first season with Carlo it felt like the best decision I'd ever made. I was this 17-year-old kid playing for Chelsea, being talked about as a future England player. I honestly thought I’d cracked it."

Being told by Carlo Ancelotti he had all the skills to become England's answer to Andrea Pirlo, those who watched him during his time with Chelsea’s Under-18s can testify the midfielder often lived up to his star billing. Used as a number ten, he would glide past challenges effortlessly, open up defences with a rare combination of vision and guile. His left foot was special. Those at Chelsea knew it early on: Ray Wilkins once famously compared a teenage McEachran to Arsenal legend Liam Brady. That is why, at just 15 years old, he was called to train with the senior side, then managed by Luis Felipe Scolari. Gus Poyet told Goal that the first time he watched the Englishman has stayed with him, "The whole stadium was talking about Josh McEachran after the game. People were saying he was the next [Fernando] Redondo or [Pep] Guardiola." His former teammate Daniel Sturridge once told talkSPORT: "Josh McEachran is the future of Chelsea." Branislav Ivanovic was just as impressed, as the Serbian defender said in 2010: "I think all our young guys deserve their chances because they are really good. I am really surprised with Josh McEachran because I have never seen a player that age in a team playing like him. I think, one day, we will be able to say we are happy because we will be able to say 'we played with him' because his performances have been amazing and if he keeps improving I think he can be one of the best players ever." Josh was 17 - how could that not go to your head?

Appearing to have the world at his feet, having turned down a move to Real Madrid, many felt he would follow in the footsteps of John Terry at Stamford Bridge, become the next bona fide star to emerge from the Blues academy. A future in the England team also beckoned. None of it appeared to faze McEachran. Named the club's Young Player of the Year at the end of the 2010/11 campaign, he signed a five-year deal later that summer. It was recognition from the club for his rapid progress and undoubted talent. However, the first big twist in McEachran's career had already taken place: the sacking of Ancelotti. There's little doubt Ancelotti’s departure harmed McEachran as his replacement,Andre Villas-Boas, added Oriol Romeu and Raul Meireles to an already stacked midfield. Josh made only five appearances under the Portuguese coach so it was no surprise that he decided his best course of action in January 2012 was to leave Chelsea on loan. He knew he had to play football and Swansea City managed by former Chelsea academy coach Brendan Rodgers seemed a good fit. Unfortunately, the move didn't work out as he didn't get to play and wasn’t even on the bench sometimes. This disappointing time dented his confidence. He spent the following campaign on loan in the Championship with Middlesbrough, playing almost 40 games for the club and was named the club's Young Player of the Season. With confidence restored, he was ready to return to Chelsea in the summer of 2013 and reassert himself in the first team but then came something of a hammer blow: Jose Mourinho was rehired by the club. In September 2013 he joined Championship side Watford on loan until the 2nd of January 2014 but made just eight appearances before returning to Stamford Bridge when his initial loan expired. Further loan spells with Wigan and Vitesse Arnhem saw him only make sporadic appearances before signing for Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Misfortune became something of a common theme in his footballing life. With his pathway at Chelsea closed through no fault of his own, at Brentford injuries hampered him. He broke his foot during his first pre-season with the Bees and only returned in December. Three months later, he broke the same foot again. He would suffer an ankle ligament injury during the following campaign at a point at which he had started to thrive in midfield under Dean Smith and missed three months of football. Although he did play 101 games for Brentford he made the decision to leave the club at the end of the 2018/19 campaign and then signed for Birmingham City in September 2019 and, after undertaking a short personal pre-season, made nine appearances for the Blues, six of which were starts. During his seventh, on the 4th of February 2020, he suffered a knee ligament injury which kept him out for nine months, and he left the club by mutual consent on the 31st of January 2021.

In an interview with Football London the one-time 'wonderkid' told a cautionary tale of a player who made every career decision for the right reasons, but still ended up tumbling down the football pyramid. He's often portrayed in the cliched image of a potential superstar who allowed his ego to get the better of him, but he's now walked out on Chelsea, Brentford and Birmingham, each time with the motivation of just playing football. 

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