Josh McEachran

Chelsea

Reserves and youth

A midfielder, McEachran began playing football for Garden City in the Oxford Mail Boys League, where he was spotted by a Chelsea scout. He joined the Blues' academy at the age of seven. He signed a two-year scholarship deal before the beginning of the 2009–10 season and helped the Blues' youth team win the FA Youth Cup for the first time in 50 years. Their achievement meant that the entire squad collectively won Chelsea's Young Player of the Year award. He also broke into the reserve team and made 9 Premier Reserve League appearances. McEachran made 10 Premier Reserve League appearances during the 2010–11 season, helping the team to first place in the Premier Reserve League South, though he did not feature in the knockout stage, which Chelsea won, to win the league outright. He made sporadic appearances for the reserves during the 2011–12 and 2013–14 seasons.

First team

McEachran received his first exposure to the first team during the 2009–10 season, when he travelled with the squad to a League Cup fifth round match versus Blackburn Rovers in December 2009, and he trained with the first team throughout the first half of 2010. McEachran was named in Chelsea's Champions League squad for the 2010–11 season and received his maiden call when he was named as a substitute for a group stage match versus MŠK Žilina on 15 September 2010. He made his senior debut when he replaced Yossi Benayoun after 79 minutes of the 4–1…

Youth

McEachran made his debut for the England U16 team aged just 14, with a start in a 2–2 Victory Shield draw with Northern Ireland on 11 October 2007. He went on to become captain of the team and also appeared in the 2008 event, but missed the final two games of the tournament through injury. In total, he won five under-16 caps, the last coming in a 3–1 victory over Russia in the opening match of the 2009 Montaigu Tournament. McEachran received his first call into the U17 squad for the final 2009 European U17 Championship elite qualification match versus Hungary on 30 March 2009 and he started in a 2–0 victory, which saw England qualify for the finals. After failing to make the cut for the tournament finals, McEachran was a regular in qualification for the 2010 European U17 Championship and was included in the squad for the finals in Liechtenstein. He scored in the opening group match against the Czech Republic and helped the team through to the final and won his 12th and final cap in the final showdown with Spain, which England came from behind to win 2–1. McEachran was named in the Technical Team of the Tournament. Fresh off the back of his success in the 2010 European U17 Championship, McEachran made his debut for the England under-19 team at the age of 17, in a 2–0 friendly victory over Slovakia on 2 September 2010. He scored his first goal for the team in the following match, a 6–1 rout of Albania in their opening 2011 European U19 Championship qualifier. He…

A central midfielder, McEachran idolised Zinedine Zidane growing up and commented "it was everything about him, his goals, his touches. He was the complete all-round midfielder". When Zidane retired in 2006, McEachran looked up to Andrés Iniesta. Ray Wilkins and Stuart Pearce have commended on McEachran's incisive passing, while André Villas-Boas and Brendan Rodgers have lauded his vision on the pitch and technical abilities, comparing him to Luka Modrić, Jack Wilshere and Samir Nasri. Peter Bosz commented in 2015 that McEachran "needs to improve his defensive play", but "will certainly be a player at a good level".

McEachran was born in Oxford and raised in Kirtlington, Oxfordshire; he attended Kirtlington Primary School and Marlborough School in Woodstock. His parents, Mark and Julie, have four other children: Danielle, Zac, Will and George. Zac trained with Chelsea's academy up to under-14 level and has since played non-League football for Oxfordshire clubs Oxford City and Banbury United, while George turned professional with Chelsea and was a member of England's 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning squad. Since August 2016, McEachran has been in a relationship with Lillie Lexie Gregg; the couple's first child, a son, was born in 2018.