SAINTS youngster Jimmy-Jay Morgan is departing for Chelsea with the club expected to receive a large compensation package.

As confirmed by the Daily Echo in January, the 17-year-old was considering his options after rejecting a first professional contract at St Mary’s.

It was understood Morgan was frustrated at not yet making his debut for the club, despite being named on Premier League and cup benches at the age of just 16.

The forward has been in red-hot form at under-21 level and scored twice versus Portsmouth at Fratton Park in a Hampshire Cup tie last year.

Morgan will now move to Chelsea, where he was formerly of the academy before joining Saints as a schoolboy, after a fee was agreed to release him from the final 18 months of his scholarship.

He follows the path 16-year-old Tyler Dibling took to Chelsea in the summer, before asking to return to Saints after just a few months and reintegrating at Staplewood Campus.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has reported the fee for the teenager could be up to £6million + add-ons, dwarfing even that Saints paid for a Premier League-ready Tino Livramento.

Morgan had already pre-agreed a first professional deal at Saints in the year leading up to his 17th birthday, with the club pushing hard to secure the England international’s future, but nothing was ever ratified by the FA.

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