Chelsea: Josh McEachran leaves Stamford Bridge and signs four-year deal with Brentford

Josh McEachran has left Chelsea and signed a four-year deal with Brentford for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League side have confirmed.

McEachran, 22, made his debut for the Blues as a 17-year-old in 2010, when he became the first player born after the Champions League's formation in 1992 to appear in the competition.

Despite being widely tipped to go and become a member of the Chelsea first team, he leaves Stamford Bridge after just 22 appearances.

After five different loan spells away from Stamford Bridge over the past three years, Chelsea have allowed the midfielder to leave for greater first-team opportunities with Marinus Dijkhuizen's Brentford.

"Josh is a versatile midfield player who can play in a holding role and as a playmaker, Dijkhuizen told Brentford's official website.

"He was a big talent at Chelsea and now I look forward to working with him and our coaching staff in order to take Josh on to the next level.

"Although he played at Vitesse last season, he has good experience of English football and will be able to fit into our playing style very quickly."

Chelsea added in a brief statement: "Chelsea Football Club thanks Josh for his service and wishes him the very best of luck for the future."

McEachran, who has had spells at Swansea City, Middlesbrough, Watford, Wigan Athletic and Vitesse Arnhem will now fly out to Portugal to link up with his new teammates at their pre-season training camp.

Phil Giles, Brentford FC co-director of football, said: "Josh is a player who our scouting team followed closely during the second half of last season. We quickly recommended him to Marinus, who of course knew Josh from his time in Dutch football and was quick to add his agreement to the discussion to proceed with the transfer.

"We are sure Josh can continue to develop and that, at 22, he still has many great seasons ahead of him. We welcome him to Brentford and to pre-season training in Portugal."