Meanwhile, Chelsea have learned that the first phase of a Fifa investigation into the club cited 25 cases of boys under the age of 18 allegedly being signed from overseas, despite not meeting the permitted exemptions threshold.

The governing body has a ban on the international transfer of minors, with a few exceptions, and could potentially sanction the club with a transfer embargo.

Chelsea have been accused by the compliance unit of Fifa’s Transfer Matching System and its findings have been passed on to the disciplinary committee which may yet find there is no case to answer.

In particular, Fifa are understood to be looking at the case of Bertrand Traore, the Burkina Faso international, now 22 and at Lyon, who was photographed playing for Chelsea aged 16.