Chelsea join West Ham and Ajax supremo in tracking 18-year-old Portsmouth starlet Leon Maloney

CHELSEA have joined West Ham on the trail of Portsmouth starlet Leon Maloney.

The 18-year-old has hit the radar of the two Premier League clubs after firing 26 goals for Pompey’s academy side last season – despite primarily playing as a winger.

SunSport understands Chelsea have accelerated their interest in the teenager after receiving a series of glowing reports on his ability from independent scouts.

And the Hammers have also started to track the youngster believing he has the talent to develop into a top class player over the next two years.

But they face major competition for his services from Holland after Wim Jonk – the man who coached Frenkie de Jong and Mathijs de Ligt – spotted him in action for the League One club’s development side.

The former Head of Academy at Ajax has taken over as manager of Dutch second division side Volendam, and he is desperate to try to bring Maloney in before any of the bigger clubs can snap him up.

PLAN CRUYFF

Jonk, along with Johan Cruyff and Ruben Jongkind, wrote the ‘Plan Cruyff’ which was adopted by Ajax in 2011 as club policy for developing players - sparking a revival of the club’s academy which produced several stars who reached the Champions League semi-finals last season.

The former Dutch international is convinced Isle of Wight-born Maloney has the natural ability and technique coupled with rapid speed to become a top player - and wants to get him to Volendam on loan and throw him straight into his first team.

Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett has already taken steps to draft Maloney into his first team plans – making his debut as a 17-year-old in the Checkatrade Trophy last season.

Chelsea scouts are now making regular checks on Maloney despite being under a transfer embargo, in the hope they will secure a reduction in the ban on signing players to allow them to bring in new faces in January.

Championship side Fulham have also shown an interest – and Maloney would not cost a fortune with just a year left on his current scholarship deal.