Chelsea are in talks with Marseille with a view to establishing an informal loan arrangement with the French club.

Marseille president Vincent Labrune attended the second leg of Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup victory over Manchester City earlier this month and afterwards had dinner with Michael Emenalo, Chelsea’s technical director.

“I told him a club like Marseille was very interested to build something with a club like Chelsea and have some of the young players on loan,” Labrune told The Independent in Marseille this week. “Players who have big potential but cannot get into the first team in the Premier League, they come here on loan and the English club pays part of the salary.”

Chelsea have in recent years loaned players to Dutch club Vitesse as part of a co-operation agreement (Wallace, Josh McEachran and Bertrand Traore are there at present). However, the Eredivisie has not proved a successful stepping stone for the Premier League.

Chelsea season player ratings Show all 21 1 /21 Chelsea season player ratings Chelsea season player ratings GOALKEEPERS: Thibaut Courtois The Belgian goalkeeper ousted long-term No 1 Petr Cech on age rather than ability - right now, the Czech is better than Courtois, who has had a few wobbly moments this season and was dropped. But the Blues are looking to the future with the best young keeper in the world. 8.5/10 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Petr Cech It's a shame that his Chelsea career had to end in this manner, but Cech will go down as the best goalkeeper in club history and is easily in the top two since the advent of the Premier League. Was called upon numerous times this season and proved he is still one of the best in the world, playing a vital role. 7 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings Branislav Ivanovic Has played every minute of every Premier League game to stake his claim as the best right-back in the division. Defensively stout, full of energy and a real threat in the attacking half, where he notched five goals and five assists in all competitions. A cult hero. 8.5 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings Gary Cahill Jose Fonte probably has a case to be angry that Cahill pipped him to the Team of the Year. The England man has had a really up and down season, with the lowest point coming in an awful display at White Hart Lane when Chelsea lost 5-3. Earned his place back in the team and has been much better ever since. 7.5 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta After seeing off Ashley Cole last season, Filipe Luis was bought in to oust the right-footed Azpilicueta from the left-back spot, but he couldn't do it. The Spaniard is one of the best defenders in the league and has made the position his own, a ruthless defender who provides great support and cover to Chelsea's main man, Eden Hazard. 8 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings John Terry An absolutely flawless season. He will be blamed for the 5-3 at Spurs but he didn't actually play too badly in that game. Played every minute of every game and hasn't put a foot wrong once. The best defender in the division by a long, long way. 10 Getty Chelsea season player ratings Filipe Luis Chelsea will be hailed for their summer business when pundits look back on 2014-15 but they weren't all hits. A £15.8m signing who never fit in, Luis may well leave the club after starting just seven league games. 2 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings Kurt Zouma The mountainous defender has been a revelation. The 20-year-old hasn't played as many games as it may seem (16 starts in all comps) but that's because he has come up big in the biggest games. Mourinho has trusted the Frenchman agaiinst Chelsea's biggest threats and he's come through. Has a major future at Stamford Bridge. 7.5 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings MIDFIELDERS: Cesc Fabregas Has slowed down in the second half of the season because of injury, tiredness and as nerves have set in amongst the squad, but take nothing away from Fabregas, he is the biggest difference between Chelsea from last season and this one. The Blues didn't have anything close to a midfielder as good as the Spaniard last season, who has provided five goals and 21 assists for the Blues in all competitions. 9 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings Ramires Injury has slowed down the Brazilian to just 11 starts but he plays a vital role in the Chelsea squad, whether playing as a box-to-box driving force, a holding midfielder or as an extra man in defensive line-ups. 6 Chelsea season player ratings John Obi Mikel Has barely featured because of injury and the impressive play of other midfielders, especially when Chelsea were playing the best football in the division at the start of the season. Still, against certain teams Mikel is a much needed defensive shield who they would miss if he went. 4 Chelsea season player ratings Nemanja Matic The best defensive midfielder in England, Matic has formed a formidable partnership with Fabregas that has no weaknesses. Supremely comfortable on the ball, a great reader of the game and able to win the physical battle against the majority of opponents, the big Serbian is a wrecking ball in midfield. 8.5 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings Oscar Impresses in fits and starts but never seems to have a consistent run of games where he is the main man. An attacking midfielder for a table topping team should probably score more than seven goals in a season. His greatest asset is his work rate and tactical discipline - that's both praise and criticism. 6.5 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings Willian Like Oscar , Willian does a vital job in this Chelsea team as an outlet, on the counter-attack and as an extra defender through sheer work rate. He may be under instruction but Willian simply does not score or create enough goals to be considered among the best, even though he has the talent. Three goals and five assists all season isn't enough. 7 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Juan Cuadrado Whisper it, but this is starting to look like a bit of a misstep by Chelsea. He's been in England less than six months so things like language, settling into a new city and playing with new team-mates are all factors. But the Colombian has not shown anything in Blue. Has only started three games since he joined and was terrible against Palace. A full pre-season should help. 2 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Eden Hazard Without equal in the Premier League, Hazard is not only Chelsea's main man, but he is the man for the big occasion. The Belgian deservedly won the Player of the Year award. He is Chelsea's plan A, B and C, the man they look for to inspire them to victory. 10 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea season player ratings STRIKERS: Loic Remy Injury stopped the Frenchman from playing a bigger part in Chelsea's season - he seemed to have terrible luck all year. But seven goals, including important strikes against Man City, Hull and Stoke, went a long way in Chelsea's march to the title. 6 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Didier Drogba At 37 he's showing his age but seven goals for a third-choice striker who probably wasn't expected to play as much as he has is a very good haul. Clearly still a key influence in the dressing room even if his skills on the pitch are declining. 6 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Diego Costa What a first season in England, Costa justified his hefty price-tag with a brilliant maiden year at Stamford Bridge. 19 Premier League goals gave Chelsea something they hadn't had in recent years and he set the tone with his fiery, fiesty attitude. A great target man and focal point. 9 Chelsea season player ratings DEPARTURES: Andre Schurrle As noted with Cuadrado, the swap move is starting to look like a mistake. Schurrle is a player of real quality who didn't want to spend his time on the Blues bench. He seemed to come back from the World Cup fatigued and the German didn't always seem willing to do the work that would make him a Mourinho favourite. A shame as he's a really talented attacker. 4 Getty Images Chelsea season player ratings Mohamed Salah Forget the form at Fiorentina (!), Chelsea were right to get rid of the Egyptian, who never impressed in Blue. On the rare occassion he was trusted to start - against lower league opposition in the cup competitions - he was awful. Perhaps he was so afraid of making a mistake it made him worse. 1 Getty Images

Any deal with Marseille would be more informal but could be more beneficial. Not only is the French league – which is televised here by BT Sport - of a higher standard, Marseille’s atmospheric Stade Veldrome is the type of venue that tests a young players’ ability to handle pressure.

“I can’t tell you the names of the Chelsea players,” added Labrune, before revealing that he had three in mind, one of whom is Charly Musonda.

The 18-year-old Musonda is the Belgian-born son of a former Zambian international, also named Charly, who played for Belgian club Anderlecht. Already been called up by his countries’ under-21 side he is also interesting Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.

Jeremie Boga, an 18-year-old French midfielder is likely to be another potential loan recruit for Marseille who kept alive their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with a dramatic victory over Monaco on Sunday.

One player who will not be leaving Chelsea for the Cote D’Azur is Didier Drogba. The Ivorian played for Marseille before he first joined Chelsea in 2004, his goals taking the club to the Uefa Cup final. However, Labrune said: “Drogba is an idol at OM, a living legend, but in terms of salary it’s not possible.”

Leaving Marseille is Liverpool-target Andre Ayew with the club giving up hope of persuading him to stay. Roma are favourites to sign the 25-year-old Ghanaian with Liverpool’s chances diminishing with their failure to secure a Champions League place.

Labrune said: “We can't keep Ayew. He is a very important player for OM but we can't offer him the kind of money English clubs can offer. The French financial system is complicated and we can't offer him an equivalent salary to what he can earn in England.

“And equally, we can't ask Ayew, who we love and is an icon of our team, to accept a lower salary. That makes no sense so unfortunately he is going to quit the club and we hope he has the great career that he deserves in England or somewhere else.”