Former Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran has told BBC 5 Live Sport that he was offered a five-year deal at Real Madrid as a 16-year-old, but opted to reject the offer and stay at Stamford Bridge to try and push his way into the first-team at Stamford Bridge.
Talking candidly to Darren Fletcher and Jermaine Jenas on the radio on Friday, McEachran explained that he was blossoming in the Chelsea youth setup, but just before he signed his first professional contract at the Blues he was told by his agent that the Spanish giants were wanting to sign him.
The creative midfielder said: "I was just coming up to my 17th birthday, so I was about to sign my first professional contract for Chelsea, and my agent at the time sat down with me and said that Real Madrid want to fly your family over and they've got a five-year contract for you, so I was a bit like wow, but I was a big, big Chelsea fan, and I thought I was this close and it hasn't been done since John Terry of breaking through."
McEachran, who is now playing Championship football for Brentford addded, "Looking back, I probably would've done things a little bit different, but at the time I thought, no, I'm going to be that next player to break through at Chelsea." "I do regret it a little bit!!" joked the 25-year-old.
Having left Chelsea in 2015, McEachran is now showing his qualities at Brentford, who are looking to gain promotion to the Premier League from the second tier.
@JMcEachran20 admits he partly regrets not joining the Spanish giants when they tried to sign him from Chelsea at 16.
