Deals for Bass, Davies and Oxlade-Chamberlain
Pompey have offered professional contracts to three of their academy graduates.
Alex Bass, Calvin Davies and Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain – who are all aged 18 – are primed to pen one-year deals.
Right-back Davies and midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain (below) hail from Portsmouth, while goalkeeper Bass is from Eastleigh.
Midfielder Adam May – who has already made three appearances for the senior side – signed his first professional contract last summer.
Academy manager Mark Kelly said: “Some fans will have seen a bit of what Calvin has to offer in the game at Exeter earlier this season.
“He’s our skipper and is a tenacious young man with a big heart who likes to compete and is determined to succeed.
“An important thing for us is that he conducts himself well off the pitch, as well as doing a good job on it.
“Alex (below) has sat on the first team bench this season. He still needs time to develop, but has got all the attributes he needs.
“We’ll have to be patient with him because keepers don’t usually come to the fore until they’re a bit older, but his stop-stopping and distribution reminds me of when Asmir Begovic was here.
“Christian’s a bit of a late developer, as he’s younger than the rest of the lads in that age group.
“He’s come on a lot this year and is developing physically – he’s a powerful lad and we’re seeing more consistent displays from him.
“All three of them have performed well over the year and thoroughly deserve their professional contracts. Now we just need to wait and see how they develop.
“Dory Yates has had a few injury problems, so he’s staying with us for another six months, which will enable us to take more of a look at him.”
Kaleem Haitham, Brandon Joseph-Buadi and Liam Sayers have left Pompey and the club would like to wish them all well for the future.
Kelly said: “As a group this year, they’ve been one of the best I’ve ever worked with. They’re brilliant lads, who have turned into fine young men.
“There were some very difficult decisions that had to be made, due to where the club stands at this moment in time, but I believe that many of them will go on to have good careers in the game.
“I want to wish all the lads the very best and the door is always open if they need any help to push on.
“They’ve all dealt with the news very well and the phone has already started to ring for a few of them.”