What Chelsea have already said about Josh Acheampong amid contract stand-off

Chelsea sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart reiterated their commitment to the club's academy only a week before banishing Josh Acheampong from playing for the first team or the development squad.

Sources have disclosed to football.london that the teenager has that the Blues believed had been all but agreed upon. The club are now seeking a solution regarding the situation, and the expectation is that Acheampong will not pull on a blue shirt until a resolution materialises.

Despite this latest development, want to keep him at the club for the foreseeable future, but his contract expires in 18 months. The Blues have seen several academy graduates depart over recent years and do not want that to continue.

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Stewart and Winstanley acknowledged the significance of developing players for the first team in an interview with the earlier this month. The latter even named Acheampong in his answer: "It's really important for us to bring through players. We've got Tyrique George at the moment, who's going well; Josh [Acheampong] has had a debut; Kiano [Dyer] is really close; We've got Shim [Mheuka], who's coming through in the academy, who we're really excited about."

Stewart then emphasised: "There's nothing we want more than players coming through the academy, through the system and playing in the first team. Obviously, over time, there will be a standard and a level that makes it challenging.

"I think if we look at the recent history – even the last few years when we've been here – the minutes for academy players, the debuts, stacks up against any other team in the . There's not teams that are out there who are playing more academy players for significant minutes.

"So, absolutely, we're investing in the academy, we continue to invest in the academy, and we've got a plan for the academy. We want to absolutely have the best academy of the future. It's a big part of how we want to operate."