Precocious Chelsea Starlet Linked with January Move
Swansea City boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed his intention to discuss the prospect of signing Chelsea youngster Josh McEachran on loan in January.
The prodigiously gifted 18-year-old is one of the finest young prospects in English football and although the talented playmaker has been tipped to have a bright future for club and country, McEachran is unlikely to be a regular starter this season due to Chelsea's glittering array of stars.
Rodgers has maintained a good relationship with Chelsea following his stint as a youth and reserve-team coach under former manager Jose Mourinho, and is hoping to open a discourse with Andre Villas-Boas in order to both develop the precocious England Under-21 international and indeed benefit from his obvious quality.
"I need to have a conversation at length (with Chelsea)," Rodgers told Sky Sports News on Thursday.
"Josh is not playing at the moment, he is on the bench, although he played (against Everton) last night.
"He is a wonderful talent and the positive thing is that clubs see Swansea as a club that can develop such talents.
"He has a big future, he played in the same team as my son right through the system at Chelsea and has kicked on since he turned 14.
"He has got great vision, he is a terrific footballer and he needs to play in a certain system.
"I think Andre (Villas-Boas) and (sporting director) Michael Emenalo understand he will need to get some games and when that moment comes he is certainly a player who would do terrific here.
The England management are believed to rate McEachran extremely highly and some reports at the beginning of the season intimated Fabio Capello was hopeful the Oxford born youngster could make a similar impact on the national side as Arsenal sensation Jack Wilshere. There is a strong belief in the England camp that a loan move would benefit and accelerate his development in the same way Wilshere's temporary move to Bolton Wanderers did in January 2010.
Having signed a new five year deal in July, the youngster, who was the fulcrum of England's 2010 European Under-17 Championship winning side, would have hoped for more first team opportunities this season, but thus far has had to contend with Carling Cup games and fleeting substitute appearances.
Although happy to discuss his intentions publicly, the Swansea City manager, who has guided his side to tenth in the Premier League table whilst playing an impressive brand of football, was eager to temper fans' expectations should the loan deal not materialise.
"All we can do is our best, we try to be in the market for the very best players." Rodgers concluded.
"We don't have the finances to buy such players but if it allows us to loan players then I would be confident in what we could give such a player."
McEachran made his Chelsea debut on 15<sup>th September 2010 as a substitute against MSK Zilina and in doing so became the first player born after the Champions League started in November 1992, to take part in the competition.
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