Updated Chelsea have edged out the likes of Newcastle United for highly-rated young defender Ishe Samuels-Smith, completing his signing for around £4m in compensation payments.
The 17-year-old was reported last week by the likes of The Athletic and Metro to have agreed a three-year deal with the London club, with the Toffees willing to let him go in order to raise badly-needed transfer funds to aid Sean Dyche and Kevin Thelwell in their quest to bolster the first team this summer.
Samuels-Smith was named among the substitutes for Everton’s senior side on a couple of occasions this past season and had yet to make his debut but a number of clubs have been monitoring his progress.
Born in Manchester, the youngster joined Everton as a nine-year-old, played at U-18 and U-21 level for the Blues in 2022-23 and has represented England at U15, U16 and U17 level so far, including at the U17 European Championships this year where he was the only English player named in Uefa’s team of the tournament.
As a natural left-back, Samuels-Smith’s departure leaves Everton even more exposed in that part of the pitch following Ruben Vinagre’s return to Sporting CP at the end of his season-long loan.