Chelsea poised to sign defender after Preston North End exit | OneFootball

Chelsea have swooped in for the out-of-contract defender

Chelsea have swooped to sign Preston North End youngster Kian Best after he was released from the Championship club.

That’s according to The Mirror journalist Dan Marsh, who revealed that the 19-year-old has completed a medical with the Premier League giants in somewhat of a surprise deal.

It was announced by the Lilywhites in May that Best’s contract at Deepdale was not to be renewed, having fallen out of favour under Paul Heckingbottom and subsequently sent on loan to League of Ireland club Bohemians earlier in 2025 for the remainder of the English season.

It’s now expected that Best will join the Blues’ under-21's setup at the world-renowned Cobham training facility.

Kian Best set to join Chelsea after Preston North End exit

It was reported by Marsh on Wednesday night that Best had completed his medical with the Premier League side ahead of arriving at Stamford Bridge.

The journalist revealed that the interest first emerged last month, at which point Preston had already announced that he would not be signing new terms with the Lancashire side.

It’s believed that the teenager will be placed in Chelsea’s development squad, despite already having 13 Championship appearances under his belt.

Best rose through the ranks at Preston, playing all but one of his second tier outings in the 2023-24 season before losing his starting spot under Ryan Lowe in November 2023 after a promising start to the campaign.

His successor in the Deepdale dugout Heckingbottom never utilised Best before he spent the second half of last season out on loan in Ireland, but he appeared just once for the Dublin-based outfit.

Kian Best's Chelsea move may come as a shock to Preston North End fans

In Preston’s released and retained list, there was no hint that the club had considered extending Best’s terms, as he was placed under the ‘Out Of Contract And Released’ section of the article, with no further information about whether new terms were discussed.

The list was published in May, with journalist Marsh claiming that Chelsea’s interest was piqued in June, so it doesn’t seem like Best already knew he was joining the Blues.

Which may beg the question to some fans - What have Chelsea seen that Preston haven’t?

Best made 12 Championship appearances in the 2023/24 season, but was reduced to just one three-minute cameo last term, and his lack of appearances in Ireland suggested that his development had somewhat stalled.

With five England under-19's appearances under his belt though, there may be some potential still to be unlocked with Best - could he do that at Chelsea?

Kian Best’s Chelsea move may be smarter than it seems on the surface

A common sentiment in football is that it’s always better to get out and secure senior minutes than spend years in a top academy, which can be true, but this move may work well for Best.

He has never been exposed to the sorts of facilities and mentoring on offer at a club like Chelsea and, although he has made the jump up to Preston’s senior team, his first-team minutes had faded to almost nothing.

His loan move to Bohemians was also a difficult spell, where he made just one appearance.

This move to Chelsea, playing regularly among the best players in his age category, probably with some element of international travel to tournaments and profiting from the well-established club-to-club loan relationships that the Blues will boast, could all play in Best’s favour to reignite his young career.