Chelsea prodigy McEachran loaned to Middlesbrough

Chelsea's young midfielder Josh McEachran has been sent on a season-long loan to Championship club Middlesbrough in a bid to get his career back on track.

McEachran was regarded as one of the brightest young stars in English football when he emerged from Chelsea's youth academy two years ago but the 19-year-old has so far been unable to fulfil his potential.

England Under-21 international McEachran made just five appearances in a loan spell at Swansea during the second half of last season and failed to force his way into Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo's plans for the start of this season.

The Blues are keen to get him more game time, so he has dropped down to English football's second tier and could make his Middlesbrough debut against Burnley on Tuesday.

Di Matteo said: "He's a great talent and, yes, I had conversations with Josh. His career's somehow stalled a little bit.

"He came onto the scene very, very early, very young and I think it's part of a player's development that you have ups and downs and you learn all the time.

"With Josh now, I think the best solution for him would be to get into that rhythm of playing games every week and get back the level that he was when he first broke through to the first team here."