Latest: Portsmouth CEO Andy Cullen provides update on contract talks as players' deals near expiry dates

The chief executive has revealed Pompey have one-year options on seven first-team squad members who are now into the final four months of their existing Fratton Park deals.

Cullen also confirmed that all discussions with senior players and subsequent decisions will be aligned so that they don’t impact the remainder of the Blues’ season.

That process is expected to begin in the next few weeks.

Pompey have 15 senior players out of contract this summer – a number that includes their existing five loanees and Jayden Reid, who has been out since last July with an ACL injury.

Among those who have uncertain futures are Josh Oluwayemi, Michael Jacobs, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Connor Ogilvie, Clark Robertson, Kieron Freeman, Louis Thompson and Jay Mingi.

Ronan Curtis, who suffered an ACL injury in the recent win against Bolton and is expected to be out for nine months, is also in the final throws of his existing Blues deal.

It means several key decisions await head coach John Mousinho and sporting director Rich Hughes in the months ahead.

According to Cullen, that process will be played out behind closed doors for the benefit of both the players and the club.

The CEO was explaining the club’s stance on contracts – plus how Pompey plan to bolster their squad quality in the summer – in a Q&A that can be viewed on YouTube.

When asked about those player contracts, he replied: ‘So we have 14 players in contract for next season, we have another seven who we have options on.

‘Obviously, we have loan players who will return to their parent clubs at the end of the season, so what it does is it's giving John the opportunity to look at how he wants to build and improve the squad for next season, working closely with Rich Hughes – our sporting director – in terms of how that will shape and how that will look.

‘And the ultimate objective is to make us stronger. We want to come out of every window being stronger than when you went into the past one.

‘We have a new strategy in terms of what we're trying to do in terms of delivering a greater number of young, emerging talent into the squad as well, so we're looking at how we bolster the squad with new recruits and looking at players, scouting players. We've got a number of players being watched at the moment and trying to start to understand how we shape up for next season.

'It's a really, really important period.

‘Those discussions in terms of individual players contracts remain private, but it's a process you want to align and do as much together as much as you can because the last thing you want to have is a particular player being offered a contract and another player not being offered a contract when there's still a huge amount of points still to play for.

‘It's slightly different for younger players but that's the process that will start to take place over the next few weeks.’

The News understands that Mingi is among the so-called ‘young players’ who has already been in discussions about a new Fratton Park deal.