Chelsea have reportedly been handed a boost in their effort to further reduce their squad numbers during the January transfer window.

Since the arrival of Enzo Maresca as head coach, a far more settled first-team group has been established than under his predecessors.

Despite the 11 players that have been added to the books, either immediately or for the future, there were 38 departures during the previous transfer window when taking into account senior, academy and exiled players.

The consequence has been Chelsea making progress on the pitch, sitting in sixth position in the Premier League standings having only lost to Manchester City and Liverpool respectively.

Maresca is generally rotating his entire team for EFL Cup and Conference League matches, even welcoming back several players who were initially earmarked for summer exits.

However, there is one player who has been confined to the academy setup having failed to agree to a move elsewhere.

What are the plans for Vale?

Harvey Vale spent last season on loan at Bristol Rovers, making 47 appearances in all competitions to put him in line for a permanent transfer to another club.

Instead, the versatile 21-year-old rejected a transfer to Saudi Pro League club Al Ettifaq and has since remained with the Under-21s.

Two appearances have been made in Premier League 2, Vale contributing one goal and one assist in the process, but he already has eyes on leaving Chelsea.

As per the Daily Mail, Vale has linked up with the Louie Anthony Sports Agency, the same representatives as fellow academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist.

The expectation is that they will now work to engineer a transfer away in January, Vale already at a point where he has just over eight months remaining on his contract.

Vale may be prepared to bide his time before a free transfer in July, but opportunities are likely to emerge at the midway point of the campaign.

Why Chelsea will be open to cut-price fee

The homegrown status of Vale means that Chelsea will be prepared to accept a heavily-reduced fee, knowing it will go down in the books as pure profit.

Co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital were reportedly happy to allow Vale to leave for less than £1m in the previous transfer window.

Even if that stance is softened now, it will still benefit Chelsea if they avoid Vale spending the rest of the campaign in the academy ranks.

Vale has not featured for Chelsea since his five appearances under Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked soon after the change of ownership. body check tags ::