Chelsea tipped to make transfer U-TURN as wonderkid plan outlined

Cameron Smith

23 Apr 2025 06:00 BST
3 min read

Chelsea could be set to abandon their pursuit of a new left-back following Ishe Samuels-Smith’s recent contract extension.

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The 18-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge for €4.7 million from Everton back in 2023 and the west London giants reportedly have “extremely high hopes” over his potential, despite his lack of first-team action thus far.

Current ETV

Ishé Samuels-Smith

D (CL)

Chelsea

Ishé Samuels-Smith

D (CL)

Chelsea

ETV Range

€1.1M - €1.6M

Samuels-Smith signed a new six-year deal with Chelsea last week and Football.London have revealed that he agreed the contract extension “with the intention of being part of the first-team next season.”

The defender is yet to make his senior Blues debut, but he could be promoted into the senior set-up in order to provide cover for Marc Cucurella at left-back next campaign.

Ben Chilwell and Renato Veiga may both be sold following their respective loan moves away from Stamford Bridge in January and Samuels-Smith could therefore be in line for a spot in Enzo Maresca’s senior squad.

Chelsea have been linked with the likes of Milos Kerkez, Antonee Robinson, Jorrel Hato and Theo Hernandez in recent months, although talk of purchasing a new left-back has died down of late and the club could even end their pursuit of a Cucurella back-up due to the presence of Samuels-Smith.

Academy defender Ishe Samuels-Smith has penned a new contract with the club until 2031.

Congratulations, Ishe! 🙌
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 15, 2025

Chelsea academy stars

Despite the fact that over €1.3 billion has been spent on new signings since the arrival of Clearlake Capital, Maresca has provided a first-team pathway for a number of Chelsea academy stars this campaign.

Shumaira Mheuka, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Sam Rak-Sakyi, Ato Ampah, Genesis Antwi and Kiano Dyer have all made their senior debuts for the Blues this year, and fellow Cobham graduates Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George are now fully-fledged members of the first-team.

Maresca recently admitted he is “in love” with Acheampong, following his performance against Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League, while George scored his first Premier League goal during Chelsea’s comeback win over Fulham on Sunday.