Posted July 15, 201113 yr 2 of our better young prospects have signed long term contracts today. Josh McEachran has signed a 5 year contract and Ryan Bertrand has signed a 4 year contract. Brilliant news today and hopefully we will get to see both young lads getting more and more game time over the next few seasons. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2393457,00.html
July 15, 201113 yr The two players most likely to break through next season. Very glad to see them tied down!
July 15, 201113 yr That is good news !! Just makes me feel very old that although Josh has put pen to paper on a 5 year deal he will only be 23/24 when it expires !!
July 15, 201113 yr Great news! Will be interesting to see what happens with Ryan and Patrick's development, seeing as they're vying for the same spot.
July 15, 201113 yr Great news! Will be interesting to see what happens with Ryan and Patrick's development, seeing as they're vying for the same spot. Great news indeed. I actually think that while Ryan and Patrick are vying for the same spot they have a greater chance of playing more games than Josh this season. With Ashley's ankle issues he may be rested here and there and with Zhirkov's future being a little unclear, one of them might be first in line to cover Ash. While Josh may find that he has more established midfield players to get past to notch up many games.
July 15, 201113 yr Brilliant news! Let's hope they both get to see some action and continue to develope the way they have been. Funny how the press didn't seem to know anything about this
July 15, 201113 yr Great news indeed. I actually think that while Ryan and Patrick are vying for the same spot they have a greater chance of playing more games than Josh this season. With Ashley's ankle issues he may be rested here and there and with Zhirkov's future being a little unclear, one of them might be first in line to cover Ash. While Josh may find that he has more established midfield players to get past to notch up many games. Totaly agree with the first bit, but, with Essiens injury, maybe that's the opening for Josh ? Alan
July 15, 201113 yr It will be interesting to see what squad numbers they will get for this season. Bertrand might continue with #34, which is not that big of a number, but surely Josh will get a smaller number than #46? Sometimes their squad number is a good indicator of how likely they are to feature in first team matches(although Di Santo did have #9 and that didn't work out very well for him). There are plenty of traditional squad numbers available(6, 13, 14, 16, 20, 24), but even something between 27 and 32 would be a sign that they might get a bigger role in the first team in the coming seasons. I could see Josh getting #20 and maybe Bertrand might go for #13. It all depends on who we're gonna sign this summer, though. Great news and maybe it's a sign that AVB has seen their potential and intends to use them. They'll both count as home grown players obviously, but it would be great to see them get some first team action already this season.
July 15, 201113 yr They might want to keep their numbers. JT has 26 and i believe was offered a new number but turned it down because that was the number he had when he got into the first team.
July 15, 201113 yr I was impressed with young Ryan's defensive discipline during the U-21 games. He was as much an integral part of a pretty solid defence as media darlings, Smalling and Jones, were. Also has sufficient pace to get himself out of trouble if need be. Not as blisteringly fast and attack minded as PVA but more solid defensively.
July 15, 201113 yr They might want to keep their numbers. JT has 26 and i believe was offered a new number but turned it down because that was the number he had when he got into the first team. Bertrand might keep his(34), but I seriously doubt Josh will keep playing with #46. It's a silly number for a first team midfielder. 26 is a fairly small number, but I reckon Terry wouldn't have kept his number if he had started with a number like 46.
July 15, 201113 yr They might want to keep their numbers. JT has 26 and i believe was offered a new number but turned it down because that was the number he had when he got into the first team. The reason Terry kept his 26 was because he made a promise to Zola that one day he'd go one better than him. Zola having the number 25 reserved for him, Terry wants the 26 to be his I believe.
July 15, 201113 yr 46 isnt that crazy anymore, you look in Italy and Turkey and Spain they have players wearing up to 99.
July 15, 201113 yr The reason Terry kept his 26 was because he made a promise to Zola that one day he'd go one better than him. Zola having the number 25 reserved for him, Terry wants the 26 to be his I believe. Maybe Josh should go for #27 then... :)
July 15, 201113 yr ...in Italy and Turkey and Spain they have players wearing up to 99. I know. I was going to mention that you can see first team players with numbers like that in some other leagues, but in England they tend to be between 1 and 34 with some rare exceptions(mostly back up keepers). Besides, how many top quality outfield players can you name who play or have played with a number between 40-99?
July 15, 201113 yr To be honest i dont think it matters anymore. Its not like the old days where it was 1 to 11. Certain players want certain numbers like Torres wanted number 9.
July 15, 201113 yr To be honest i dont think it matters anymore. That's your opinion, but you didn't answer my question. How many top quality outfield players play or have played with a number between 40-99? If it doesn't matter anymore, surely you could name some players. ;)
July 15, 201113 yr I bet it matters in terms of shirt sales etc.. That's definitely one factor, but many players have their favorite numbers and for some reason they tend to be traditional numbers. Many star players prefer to play with the same number in the national team and in club football, and in international football the squad numbers are between 1-24.
July 15, 201113 yr 46 isnt that crazy anymore, you look in Italy and Turkey and Spain they have players wearing up to 99. When Australia was qualifying for the Asian Cup, and our top players weren't released (because it wasn't a FIFA date), we had to play A-League players. They were given high numbers, because once they were given a number, that was it for the entire campaign (including the tournament itself). That's how one of our players got the number 121. It was awesome lol.
