Chelsea are confident of renewing the contracts of both Charlie Webster and Malik Mothersille as they look to stave off fears of a youth exodus amid high spending in the first-team squad.
The two Under-21 stars in Mark Robinson’s table-topping Premier League 2 team had been fielding offers away from west London ahead of their current deals expiring in the summer.
Webster, 18, had significant interest from European clubs including Borussia Dortmund and PSV Eindhoven but is now set to remain at Chelsea.
The Blues made good financial packages available to the two youngsters but both needed convincing after the men’s team spent a world record £450million on senior players.
There remains concerns over potential pathways into the first team with 12 other youth-team stars out of contract in June.
After losing half a dozen players in 2021, history risks repeating itself.
Forward Mothersille and wing-back Dion Rankine are also expected to renew their deals.
Chelsea would like to renew the contracts of several other youngsters who are less keen on staying, including striker Jude Soonsup-Bell, who has had talks with Manchester City but is now more interested in moving overseas.
Silko Thomas has had a trial at Sheffield United but is attracting interest from Southampton. In the Under-18s, Tudor Mendel-Idowu and Sam Rak-Sakyi could get poached by another academy.
Derby County loanee Joe Haigh’s contract and goalkeeper Prince Adegoke are likely to be sold or released, the latter of whom dropping down the pecking order following injury.
Chelsea are ready to loan out Omari Hutchinson and Cesare Casadei after Bashir Humphreys agreed on a deal to join Bundesliga 2 side Paderborn.
Humphreys had options in the Championship and League One but opted for a six-month deal in Germany.
