Akpan Extends Chelsea Contract

Polish-born Nigerian midfielder Ashanti Akpan has extended her contract with Chelsea.

The Blues announced the contract extension on their website.

“Chelsea is delighted to announce an option to extend the contract of Ashanti Akpan by a further year until 2026 has been exercised.

“The midfielder has been with the Blues since the age of seven and signed her first professional contract midway through the 2023/24 season, with her senior debut arriving in March 2023 during a 3-1 Women’s FA Cup quarter-final win over Reading.

“Akpan spent last season on loan in the Women’s Championship with Birmingham City, playing 15 games and earning valuable experience of senior football as they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Women’s Super League after finishing second.”

Akpan was born in Warsaw to a Nigerian father and Polish mother.

The 19-year-old is eligible to play for Nigeria, Poland and England.

On the international stage, she has represented England at Under-15, Under-16, Under-17 and Under-18 level.

Also she captained the Under-19 squad during her early career with the young Lionesses.

Akpan joined the Chelsea Academy in August 2013, aged seven. With the Academy squad, she won the FA Youth Cup in 2021–22 and the FA WSL Academy Cup in 2022–23.

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She was involved with the Chelsea senior squad for the first time when she was named on the bench in a 2–0 UEFA Women’s Champions League win over Real Madrid Femenino on 23 November 2022, though she did not feature.

Her debut came in a 3–1 Women’s FA Cup win against Reading on 19 March 2023, when she came on as a second-half substitute for Sophie Ingle.

In December of the same year, Akpan signed her first professional contract with the club until the summer of 2025, with the option to extend by a further year.

By James Agberebi