The awkward reason why former Chelsea player rejected a move to Real Madrid in 2009

Former Chelsea midfielder, Josh McEchran was once considered as one of the best prospects in English football.

The youngster came through the youth levels of England and Chelsea, winning the European Under-17 Championship in 2010.

McEchran, now 24, is currently playing at the lower division team Brentford, where he ended up after his Chelsea career totally collapsed.

Carlo Ancelotti had given him 17 league appearances in 2010/11, but since then he spent some loan spells at different clubs, without making any progress.

But believe it or not, clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid were once heavily interested in signing him.

The Brentford man recalled: “I was 16, at Chelsea, and my agent at the time said: ‘Real Madrid want you’. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? At that age.

“I was 16. I’d just signed my scholarship at Chelsea but Real came in with a five-year deal,” per the Gazette.

“They wanted me to sign and offered to move all my family over there.

“The thing was, I was so close to making my debut and nobody (from the Academy) had done that since John Terry.”

So, his desire to make history with Chelsea had convinced him to not join Real Madrid.

Now it sounds pretty depresing, considering how bad things have gone for him since rejecting that kind of move.