Josh Acheampong, 20, Has Started Six of Chelsea’s Last Nine Under Alonso

• Josh Acheampong, 20, has started six of Chelsea’s past nine matches in all competitions under new manager Xabi Alonso.
• Only Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Levi Colwill and Maxence Lacroix have played more than his 581 minutes under Alonso.
• His contract runs to 2029 and no talks over a new deal are active, according to BBC Sport.

A Roaming Centre-Back in Alonso’s Back Three

Josh Acheampong has started six of Chelsea’s past nine matches in all competitions. His 581 minutes under new manager Xabi Alonso are bettered by only four players: attackers Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers, and defenders Levi Colwill and Maxence Lacroix.

Chelsea’s academy has a record of producing England defenders. From John Terry’s breakthrough in the early 2000s, it has sent Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori to the national team, and developed international centre-backs Andreas Christensen and Nathan Ake. Acheampong could be the next.

Much of his game time comes from Alonso settling on a more consistent side. Chelsea had conceded a league-high 12 goals before the international break and have let in only one after it, including their first clean sheet of the season away at Everton on Saturday.

Acheampong has operated as a roaming centre-back in a back three alongside the more fixed Colwill and Lacroix. He steps into midfield or moves wide to play as a traditional full-back when Chelsea have the ball. He has also built a promising understanding with right wing-back Pedro Neto, and the pair combined in the move that led to Joao Pedro’s goal against Bournemouth. In the process he has kept £75m signing Wesley Fofana out of the side.

Alonso has been keen to describe the defensive improvement as a team effort. Moises Caicedo is back from injury and his partnership with 36-year-old Jordan Henderson in midfield has added stability. On a pre-season tour of Australia and Asia, Alonso also hammered home a policy of giving minutes to those who most deserve them, rather than on reputation.

Acheampong has started eight of England Under-21s’ past 10 matches too. He looks increasingly like a player knocking on the door of a senior call-up, should manager Thomas Tuchel want a versatile option on the right side of defence.

Twice Close to the Exit

Acheampong has made 52 appearances from his debut in 2024. He has been at Chelsea from Under-8s level and has still come close to leaving on more than one occasion.

In 2023 he did not sign a professional contract on his 17th birthday, which is the norm for elite academy prospects. The club’s current ownership moved to secure his future in January 2024, avoiding the risk of losing him for a nominal compensation fee.

Twelve months later he appeared to be heading for the exit again, in what former manager Enzo Maresca described as a "bad situation". The club’s hierarchy withdrew him from selection at both academy and first-team level before lengthy negotiations ended with a contract to 2029, signed in December 2024. That is the deal he is on today.

Over recent transfer windows he has been repeatedly linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge, while sources within Chelsea insisted he was "untouchable". That line has stayed consistent but has raised eyebrows at times. Chelsea seriously explored moves for Dean Huijsen in the summer of 2025 and for Liverpool’s Jeremy Jacquet in January 2026, both with similar attributes and only a year older than Acheampong.

At one stage this summer Chelsea had 10 senior centre-backs on their books. They finished the window with six. In a season without European football there were real doubts over how much Acheampong would play, and potential loan moves were explored, including a switch to Crystal Palace. Palace signed Chelsea’s Axel Disasi on loan instead, as Premier League rules permit only one domestic loan signing from another top-flight club.

A Contract Decision Looms

With his deal running to 2029, decisions need to be made between now and next summer. Acheampong and Fofana will both enter the final two years of their contracts then, and Colwill’s agreement expires a year later in 2030. Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo were sold to Como and Tottenham Hotspur this summer after entering the final two years of their deals.

The policy comes in part from lessons learned after Chelsea’s 2022 takeover. Antonio Rudiger and Christensen left on free transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona, which triggered a scramble to strengthen the centre of defence and led to expensive moves for Fofana and Marc Cucurella.

There are no active discussions over a new deal for Acheampong, and a seven-year contract has been floated before. His camp is cautious about rushing into negotiations until there is clearer evidence that he can become a regular starter at Chelsea. His recent performances have won wider recognition among supporters and raised the stakes around his future. Alonso’s first-team football has given the club its strongest chance yet of persuading one of its most promising academy graduates to commit long term.