Bertrand Traore will join Chelsea first-team next season after he was granted a work permit

Winger has been on loan at Vitesse Arnhem for past 18 months

Bertrand Traore: The Burkina Faso midfielder cannot be given a full contract until he turns 18 (Getty Images)

Chelsea are set to add Bertrand Traore to their first team squad next season after the 19-year-old was successfully granted a work permit.

Traore, who is a graduate of Auxerre's Academy, was handed his first professional contract by Chelsea in October 2013 after he'd impressed while on trial during a pre-season tour of South East Asia.

But the winger has been farmed out on loan to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem for the past 18 months because, up till then, he had not played enough games for his national team, Burkina Faso, to be cleared to play here.

The regulations stated that to qualify, a player must represent a country that is in the top 70 of the world rankings and participate in more than 75 per cent of their competitive fixtures over the previous two years. Traore has now done that, which led Chelsea to reapply.

However, they had to act fast before new stricter regulations introduced by the Football Association, which included demanding a player come from a nation within the top 50, came into effect earlier this month.

The latest rankings had Burkina Faso sitting in 66th place, so he wouldn't have qualified if Chelsea hadn't beaten the deadline.

Traore will now join the rest of the first team squad on their pre-season tour to the USA next month, where they will face New York Red Bulls, Paris Saint Germain and Barcelona.

Significantly, manager Jose Mourinho has been closely monitoring his progress since his successful trial two years ago.

Traore's natural position is on the flanks, but he can also be deployed as a forward and as a No10.

He scored 17 goals in all competitions for Vitesse this season as they qualified for a Europa League place.

At the end of the campaign, Vitesse coach Peter Bosz revealed that his performances would earn a recall to Stamford Bridge.

He said: “Jose Mourinho is crazy about him. If the opportunity is there, they (Chelsea) prefer to take him back.”