Colchester United boss John McGreal hasn’t given up hope that full-back Kane Vincent-Young, who is understood to be interesting the Blues along with a number of other clubs, will stay with the U’s.
Vincent-Young, 22, turned down a new Colchester contract at the end of last season but was with the squad when they returned for pre-season training yesterday.
Former Blues defender McGreal says he’d love the former Tottenham academy youngster to stay at the JobServe Community Stadium but is realistic that he could end up elsewhere.
"Kane is a little bit different, because there’s that compensation on his head [as he's under 24 years of age],” he told the Colchester Gazette.
"We’re still trying to keep him at the club but we know it’s out of our hands at times, if there are other clubs out there who want him.
"Kane’s attitude is fantastic. He’ll get on with his work and looking at his stats, he’s come in and done really well.
"At this moment in time, who knows what’s going to happen? We’d love him to stay so it’s one where we’ll wait and see what happens.
"We’ll still try and persuade him to stay because he’s been one of our own and he’s been a prominent player in my starting XI over the last two years.
"I’d love him to stay and we’ve made that quite clear but if big clubs come knocking and try and persuade him, we don’t want to stand in a player’s way.
"It’ll be a case of having a little bit of patience with Kane and seeing where that takes us.”
McGreal also confirmed that keeper Sam Walker, 26, has left the U’s, also having turned down a contract at the end of last season.
Walker, a former Town season ticket holder, is a player who has interested the Blues in the past and could well be on the radar if they need to bring in another keeper this summer.