Josh Acheampong will start for Chelsea against Astana on Thursday and is about to sign a new contract.
Acheampong is one of Chelsea's most promising young players, but has made just one first-team appearance this season. He has been frozen out of Enzo Maresca's squad due to an ongoing contract dispute.
The 18-year-old defender is under contract with Chelsea until June 2026, but the club would like him to sign a long-term contract. He was told he would not play unless he put pen to paper on new terms, with his only appearance coming as a substitute in the 5-0 win over Barrow in the Carabao Cup in September.
However, there appears to have been a breakthrough in negotiations, with Maresca confirming in his pre-match press conference that Acheampong will start against Astana after being included in the squad for the trip to Kazakhstan. Maresca has brought an inexperienced squad for the Europa Conference League match and confirmed he would hand out Chelsea debuts.
“He is in the squad, yes, and will probably play from the start,” he said when asked about Acheampong. And when asked whether his presence marked a change in the club's position, the Chelsea boss added: “For Josh it's quite clear: the club loves Josh, I love Josh, and we are trying to reach an agreement with the player to find. We are close, we are almost there, but we will see.”
Maresca had previously admitted it was a 'shame' that Acheampong was not more involved with the first team this season, while he was also left out of the under-21 squad for almost three months.
“It's a shame because I really think Josh has the potential to be a top player,” he said in October. “He is still 18, very young, a lot can still change for him, but in terms of potential in the future he can be very important for Chelsea.
“The only thing is that it is so important for the club that our intention is not to lose him, so the first thing we have to do is find a solution about his contract and his future. The most important thing in this phase is that they get minutes, that they enjoy it and that they play football.
“It's a bad situation for him at the moment. I don't know if the people trying to solve the problem are helping him or not, but all I can say is that I really like Josh and I would like to have him here with us, but that's not possible.
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