Chelsea to sell Ishe Samuels-Smith to Strasbourg for £6.5 million | OneFootball

Chelsea have finalised a £6.5 million deal to sell highly-rated Cobham academy graduate Ishe Samuels-Smith to sister club Strasbourg (football.london).

When the news of his potential departure initially emerged, Chelsea fans reacted with shock, considering he was earmarked to cover for Marc Cucurella.

However, with the Blues closing in on Jorrel Hato, Samuels-Smith has decided to head elsewhere.

The fact that Chelsea have kept him in the BlueCo ecosystem bodes well.

Samuels-Smith is comfortable as a centre-back and a left-back. He would be an ideal fit for Liam Rosenior’s fluid Strasbourg side.

The 19-year-old joined Chelsea from Everton two seasons ago and blossomed into a captain for the Under-21 side. He represented England at U19 level.

He made a handful of appearances on the bench for the senior Chelsea team but ultimately did not get minutes.

Samuels-Smith joins Chelsea’s healthy contingent at Strasbourg, including loanees Mike Penders, Kendry Paez, and Mamadou Sarr.

Mathis Amougou has also joined the Ligue 1 club permanently.

Chelsea sold Diego Moreira to Strasbourg and sent Djordje Petrovic and Andrey Santos on loan to the club last season.

The Samuels-Smith transfer will take Chelsea’s transfer income this summer to over £160 million.

Chelsea have continued their heavy spending this summer, but balanced the books reasonably by offloading several players.

Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Petrovic, Bashir Humphreys, Amougou, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli have departed the club.

Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling, Alfie Gilchrist, Axel Disasi, Carney Chukwuemeka, Renato Veiga and Christopher Nkunku are on the chopping block.

Chelsea could part ways with striker Nicolas Jackson if they receive a massive offer. The Blues aren’t actively pushing to sell but have set an £80m price tag.