Josh Acheampong: Why Chelsea MUST avoid making Livramento error

The success of Chelsea’s academy over the past decade has been well-documented and while Clearlake Capital have prioritised signing wonderkids from across the globe, Cobham continues to churn out talent every single year.

13 Chelsea academy graduates have represented the England senior team since the 2016 European Championship, but only Levi Colwill and Reece James remain at Stamford Bridge to this day.

In Josh Acheampong, Chelsea have yet another homegrown player capable of becoming an England regular, and they must avoid making past mistakes in order to retain the talented 18-year-old.

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Acheampong is being courted by virtually every elite club in Europe, including Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Liverpool, and he was recently exiled by Chelsea due to his reluctance to sign a new contract.

His current deal is due to expire in 2026 and Acheampong was informed that he wouldn’t feature for the club at any level until he agreed to extend his stay in west London.

After two months without any competitive action for the club, Acheampong returned to Chelsea’s U21 side versus Derby County in late November, before making his first ever senior start during the Blues’ 3-1 win over Astana in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

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Although he is yet to formally extend his Chelsea contract, Maresca has admitted that an agreement is close and Acheampong looks to have worked his way back into favour at Stamford Bridge.

However, the next few months could prove crucial for the west London giants.

Josh Acheampong: Tino Livrament 2.0?

Unfortunately, Chelsea have seen this script before. Valentino Livramento was regarded as one of the club’s brightest prospects and he won the Blues’ Academy Player of the Season award in 2021 following a stellar campaign at youth level.

But, he pushed to leave Stamford Bridge due to a lack of a first-team pathway and he joined Southampton that summer.

Livramento is now a senior England international, he has usurped Kieran Trippier as Newcastle United’s preferred right-back, and he is one of the Premier League’s most exciting young defenders.

Chelsea simply can’t afford to make the same mistake with Acheampong.

The 18-year-old also has concerns over his future game time in the Chelsea first-team, like Livramento, which is a key reason why he is yet to commit his long-term future to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

However, Acheampong has proven that he is a cut above the rest at Cobham. His athleticism is immense, he is assured in possession and he is already prepared for regular senior football.

His performance against Astana was extremely impressive and given his ability to play at right-back or centre-back, he seems ideally suited to Maresca’s system in the Chelsea first-team.

With Axel Disasi evidently unfancied by Maresca, and potentially on the way out in January, it’s time for Acheampong to be given a chance in the first-team.

Reece James’ injury issues mean he simply can’t be relied upon from a fitness perspective, and Chelsea would be wise to reward Acheampong with meaningful game time during the second-half of the campaign.

If not, he could push to leave and the club would be left rueing their failure to implement an appropriate first-team pathway for a player who appears destined to become an England star in the future.