Omari Kellyman is now expected to stay at Chelsea beyond next week's transfer window deadline, football.london understands.

The 19-year-old, who signed for Chelsea last summer in a deal understood to be around £19million, is yet to feature for the senior team following his arrival from Aston Villa. Just weeks after his move to Stamford Bridge, Kellyman suffered a hamstring injury that has kept him on the sidelines ever since.

The plan from a Chelsea perspective was to loan the former Aston Villa midfielder out during the January transfer window. Speaking in December, head coach Enzo Maresca said: "The main plan for Omari is to recover after his injury and then get some minutes, then in January we will see what is next for him."

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However, Kellyman's recovery has taken longer than initially anticipated and the plan has changed: with the club now keen for the midfielder to return to full fitness at Cobham rather than leave before the February 3 deadline, football.london understands. Kellyman made just two appearances for the Development Squad in Premier League 2 prior to his injury.

After signing towards the end of June, there were plans for Kellyman to travel with the rest of the Blues squad for their pre-season tour of the United States but an ankle injury he sustained while at Aston Villa meant he was deemed not fit enough to go. The midfielder has big aspirations to make it at Chelsea, as he explained last summer, so this season thus far will be a real disappointment on a personal level.

"That was a big attraction for me," Kellyman said about seeing the young talent already at Cobham. "I have seen young players stepping into the team and playing week in, week out, in the Premier League and I feel like I will be able to take my opportunity as and when it comes.

"I want to be successful in the Chelsea shirt; to win games and hopefully trophies. [Over time] hopefully, I can become one of the faces on the side of the stadium. I want to become a big player for this club."