Brentford closes in on deal for Chelsea academy product with four-year offer

Last Friday, we had a report from Brentford fanzine Beesotted claiming that the (once) very promising English midfielder Josh McEachran was set to join the Bees in a permanent deal. On Monday, The Guardian and the London Evening Standard to pick up the story -- which can give us confidence that a deal should be announced shortly, perhaps even today.

Chelsea and Brentford are close to finalising a deal that will see Josh McEachran end his 15-year association with the Premier League champions as he seeks to revive a once hugely promising career by moving to Griffin Park on a permanent basis.

Source: The Guardian

Like Beesotted, The Guardian also claims that Brentford offered McEachran a four-year contract -- possibly not as lucrative as his £2 million per year one signed back in 2011. According to the newspaper, the club spent the weekend ironing out details on the deal.

McEachran now gets a second chance on his short career. He certainly didn't regress technically, but he certainly lacked physical and perhaps even mental strength in his loan spells. Perhaps the weight of being Chelsea's second academy product to break into the first team in the modern years after John Terry was too heavy to bear. Going to Brentford might be seen as a set-back on his career but given their aspirations and how McEachran is only 22 years old, he and his club still have room left to grow.

We shall see what happens next.