“No money moved” – Strasbourg president explains truth of mysterious summer transfer story | OneFootball

In England you never tend to hear from anyone other than the manager at a football club. They end up answering for the owners, the sporting directors, the physios and everyone else.

In France they do things a little differently, and the club president regularly speaks to the media. Marc Keller, president of Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg spoke to the media this week on all matter of subjects as he feels the heat from supporter groups.

Keller explains ISS mystery transfer

Ishe Samuels-Smith playing for Chelsea’s youth team. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

One topic that came up was the mystery of Ishe Samuels Smith. He signed for Strasbourg from Chelsea but then returned to the Blues and was loaned to Swansea. Keller had the full story for us at last:

“Ishe belonged to Chelsea. We were looking for someone to play on the left or as a left centre-back. I didn’t know him at the start, but the sporting director and Liam [Rosenior] did,” Keller explained.

“After a few weeks, with the player, the staff, and Chelsea, we felt it would be difficult for him to play right away. Together with the player and his family, we decided that an intermediate step was better. The transfer was cancelled, no money moved between Chelsea and Strasbourg. We prioritised the player’s well-being and his playing time.

“We respect FIFA’s rules on loans. We use them, and we assume it.”

BlueCo keen to keep all above board

That all sounds sensible to us – it’s in everyone’s interest that ISS plays as much as possible. It sounds like everything was done by the books too. Chelsea have to be careful with their sister club to keep everything above board, so Keller’s desire to clarify that no money actually changed hands and that FIFA’s rules were respected makes sense.