Chelsea’s teenage midfielder Josh McEachran signed a new five-year contract with the Premier League club yesterday.

McEachran is regarded as one of the best prospects to emerge from Chelsea’s youth academy for years and many pundits expect him to play a significant role under new Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas.

The 18-year-old was part of Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup-winning side in 2010 and has so far made 17 first-team appearances, inclu-ding four starts.

McEachran hopes to feature more often this season and told the club’s website: “I need to keep working. This season my target is just to play more minutes. Hopefully I will play more games and keep improving.”

Meanwhile, McEachran’s fellow England Under-21 international Ryan Bertrand has agreed a new four-year contract with the Blues.

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