Chelsea consider £4m defender ready for senior action and have loan plan for next season | OneFootball

We’ve just covered a really in depth interview the Chelsea website did with Ishe Samuels-Smith, the Under-21s captain.

On the back of that, we asked our sources working at the club what the perception of the 18 year old was around Cobham. We got feedback so positive that we were really taken by surprise.

The fact that the youngster didn’t get a minute this season, even once we had loaned out backup left back Renato Veiga and wanted to rest first choice Marc Cucurella in the Conference League, had made us think that perhaps Enzo Maresca or the sporting directors didn’t really rate the youngster as highly as we had thought.

But what we’re hearing is the opposite – tactically, technically and in terms of character, the Manchester born kid is impressing everyone hugely. The fact that he’s captaining the Under-21s despite having been imported from the Everton academy speaks volumes.

He is likely to join the Club World Cup touring party, and could make his debut at that tournament. The plan is to loan him out next season, but the club rate him highly enough that they’re considering putting off the purchase of another left back, considering him pretty close to being ready to start featuring in cup games already.

Samuels-Smith considered close to ready for first team action by senior heads at Chelsea

Ishe Samuels-Smith in a men’s training session. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Samuels-Smith joined Chelsea in July 2023 for around £4m, and that’s already looking like a huge bargain, before he’s even made a senior appearance. He continues to work his way up through the England youth categories, and should get his first minutes in men’s football next season, whether that’s at Chelsea or elsewhere.

We can’t wait to see what’s next for the latest talent off the Cobham production line.