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Wigan Athletic close in on Chelsea wonderkid after patient pursuit Wigan Athletic are hopeful of completing a season-long loan deal for Chelsea teenager Reggie Walsh this week. The 17-year-old midfielder is rated as one of the best prospects in Chelsea’s academy. Latics have been on his trail for much of the summer, but have been frustrated in their attempts to secure a deal already. Walsh has recently been away with the rest of the Chelsea squad on their tour of Australia and Asia. But with the Blues now back in the UK, Gary Caldwell is hopeful of concluding the arrangement that would give Walsh his first loan move. The player – who has represented England at Under-15s, Under-16s, Under-17s and Under-18s – has been with Chelsea from the age of seven. He is the third youngest player to turn out for Chelsea, and the second youngest Englishman – behind Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere – to play in the Champions League. Latics will obviously be hopeful he follows in the footsteps of Chelsea skipper Reece James, whose first taste of senior football was during a loan spell at Wigan in 2018/19. James went on to win every single award at the club’s player of the year awards, and even captained Latics in his last appearance against Millwall, when he received a standing ovation while being substituted in the dying seconds. Walsh’s proposed move wouldn’t be the first transfer dealings between Latics and Chelsea this summer. Latics academy product Harrison Bettoni moved to Stamford Bridge last month, with a ‘substantial’ development fee winging its way into the Wigan bank account. Boss Caldwell hinted after Saturday’s Carabao Cup first-round clash at Barnsley that this week could prove productive on the transfer front. "The first phonecall I’ll make is to Joe Riley (head of recruitment), who has continued to work extremely hard behind the scenes while I've had to focus on matches,” he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to add some reinforcements to the squad this week, which will make the team and the bench stronger. "I'm not sure how many league appearances were on the bench at Barnsley, but it wasn't many.” The Latics chief was also far from downbeat after Latics were made to pay for their profligacy at Oakwell, with the hosts riding their luck to equalise in the closing stages, before winning the tie 6-5 on penalties. "Our aims this season were always the league, the Vertu Trophy and the FA Cup,” added Caldwell. "The lowest competition on our list of objectives was always the Carabao Cup. "I think it gives you too many games at the beginning of the season, for a squad that's already thin. "Don't get me wrong, we went to Barnsley to win the game, and we did more than enough to win the game. "But I think that in two or three weeks' time, when we have a midweek off, it will be a huge benefit to this squad. "We're so thin at the moment, we need to get training into some players, so that will be a positive."