Enzo Maresca confirms forgotten Chelsea wonderkid, 18, will start against Astana after contract stand-off
CHELSEA boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Josh Acheampong is set to start against Astana.
The Blues will take on the Kazakh side tomorrow in difficult -13C conditions.
Maresca is set to make several changes to the side that beat Tottenham 4-3 last Sunday, with 11 academy starlets having been added to his Europa Conference League squad.
Full-back Acheampong, 18, is set to come in for his first Chelsea start.
The England youth international is highly-rated at Stamford Bridge and has made two cameos from the bench for the Blues.
But in October it was reported that he had been "frozen out" amid a contract stand off.
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He was recently seen having returned to first team training, however.
And asked about Acheampong ahead of tomorrow's match, Maresca confirmed that a contract agreement is close.
The Italian, 44, said: "He's in the squad and is probably going to play from the start.
"With Josh, it's quite clear, we all love Josh, the club love Josh and I love Josh.
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"We are trying to find an agreement with the player. It's close, we are almost there."
Chelsea will embark on a 7,000-mile round trip to face Astana, with stars such as Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke among those that will be left at home.
On their travel arrangements, Maresca added this morning: "We have a session now, then we fly there, eight hours.
"We arrive, have dinner, bed. Fortunately they are five hours ahead of us. We are going to be there for 24 hours.
"Friday morning, we are going to arrive around 6am in London."
Following Chelsea's arduous trip, their West London derby against Brentford this weekend has been pushed back to an unusual kick-off time.
The match will get underway at 7pm this Sunday, and it's likely that Maresca could make as many as 11 changes from the side that will face Astana tomorrow.