Chelsea are on the verge of signing Everton defender Ishe Samuels-Smith after agreeing a fee close to £4m with the Toffees, according to the Atheltic.
The online news portal claims the 17-year-old will put pen to paper on a three-deal after successful negotiations between all parties in recent days.
It’s been a busy start to this year’s summer transfer window for the Blues as they have already offloaded eight players with the latest being Mason Mount who completed his move to Manchester United on Wednesday.
More players are expected to leave including Christian Pulisic and Conor Gallagher with the former tipped to join AC Milan in the coming days, while the latter has been linked with a move to Crystal Palace and Tottenham.
Chelsea are building for the future and have brought in six players with four being youngers including Alex Matos, Diego Moreira, Kendry Paez, and Dujuan Richards. Both Paez and Richards will join the club next season after they’ve turned 18.
Chelsea have sold Kalidou Koulibaly after just one season at Stamford Bridge and may look to bring in defensive reinforcements despite the return of Levi Colwill and the availability of Thiago Silva, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, and Trevoh Chalobah.
Reinforcement
The West Londoners have continued their strategy of buying exciting young talent after agreeing a £4m deal with Everton for Samuels-Smith.
Mauricio Pochettino’s track record of improving young talents could be good news for Samuels-Smith. Although it is unknown whether the teenager will link-up with the Chelsea first team team, go into their youth set-up or head out on loan.
Last season, he represented Everton’s youth sides and was one of the standout players in the squad. This earned him a call-up to the first team and was among the substitutes in their 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.
The highly-rated defender was also on the bench as Sean Dyche’s side suffered a 3-1 loss to Fulham in their quest to escape relegation from the Premier League. He played for Everton’s under-18 and under-21 sides, making 29 appearances.
Samuels-Smith has also featured for the youth sides of England from the U-15 to U-17, racking up 24 appearances and scoring one goal in the process.
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