Enzo Maresca has revealed Chelsea are "close" to resolving Josh Acheampong's contract situation with the defender set to start against Astana on Thursday.
As reported at the end of last month by football.london, the Blues have held positive talks with the 18-year-old and his entourage over extending his contract at Stamford Bridge. In October, Acheampong was told by the club that he would not represent Chelsea at any level while negotiations over a new deal were underway, but things have since taken a turn and are moving in the right direction.
Acheampong will be part of the travelling Chelsea contingent that are making the 7000-mile round trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana in the fifth match of their UEFA Conference League league phase campaign. Maresca, speaking at his pre-match press conference, has now given fans an update on Acheampong, his involvement on Thursday and his contract situation.
"He is in the squad, yes, and is probably going to play from the start," Maresca said on Wednesday morning. "For Josh, it is quite clear: The club love Josh, I love Josh, and we are trying to find an agreement with the player. We are close, we are almost there, but we will see."
Acheampong is one of several academy stars that are set to make the mammoth trip to Kazakhstan with the rest of the Chelsea squad. Ahead of the match, Acheampong, as well as Kaiden Wilson, Harrison McMahon, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Tyrique George, Kiano Dyer, Samuel Rak-Sakyi, Ato Ampah, Max Merrick, Shim Mheuka and Richard Olise have all been included in the Chelsea squad on the UEFA website.
football.londonunderstands the club always planned to give the opportunity to their younger generation if they found themselves in this strong position, like they do, this late into the newly-named and altered group stage. Maresca said: "Some of them [the first-team players] will be here [at Cobham] and some of them will fly with us.
"More or less, we try to manage in the same way we have done before today. We have many young players, 17 players with us, and the rest will be here with us."
Thursday's match, that kicks off at 3:30pm GMT, will take place at the Almaty Ortalyk Stadium. Astana usually play their home matches at the Astana Arena but renovation work has seen the Kazakh club play their games elsewhere this term.