Chelsea set to complete transfer Enzo Maresca has been waiting for as £50m double decision made

Enzo Maresca never took to Ben Chilwell's profile (Image: Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)

The two deals make room for Chilwell in the Strasbourg squad as he plays in the same position (left-back) as Samuels-Smith. Chelsea are unable to loan anymore players to the fellow BlueCo-owned club.

Kendry Paez, Mike Penders, and Mamadou Sarr are already at the Alsace-based side for the next season. The trio have already established themselves in the squad.

Samuels-Smith is yet to feature in Ligue 1 and will now be going to the Championship in order to aid his development. Chilwell, meanwhile, ends a five year stay at Chelsea.

He spent the second half of last season on loan at Crystal Palace having been left out of Enzo Maresca's first team plans. Chelsea hoped to sell Chilwell 12 months ago but were unable to find him a suitable new club.

With time running out, they have turned to an increasingly common solution. Chilwell becomes the 11th player to move between Chelsea and Strasbourg (either on loan or permanently) with 13 deals around players or coaching staff within the past two summers.

Sarr was signed earlier this window but sent back on loan for the 2025/26 campaign whilst Mathis Amougou joined from Saint-Etienne in January but was sold to Strasbourg just a few months later. Last season Andrey Santos, Djordje Petrovic, and Caleb Wiley all spent time with Liam Rosenior.

Diego Moreira turned a loan deal at Strasbourg permanent whilst Angelo Gabriel also went there in 2023. Under-21s/Development Squad manager Felipe Coelho left Cobham to become Rosenior's senior assistant earlier this summer as well.

After Nicolas Jackson's loan to Bayern Munich broke down - now likely to be a straight sale, if anything - an unexpected final international loan spot has opened up. Chelsea also have Deivid Washington at Santos and Aaron Anselmino at Borussia Dortmund.

Chilwell is from a previous generation of Chelsea. He was signed in 2020 under the Roman Abramovich regime. He cost £50million and went on to win the Champions League in his first season.

As a specialist wing-back, Chilwell asserted himself as one of the best in the world, earning a new bumper contract until 2027 when offered an extension by Clearlake Capital - Todd Boehly in 2023. Injuries have plagued him since.

Chilwell was never truly favoured by Maresca, who prefers his full-backs to invert into the pitch rather than hold width and play high and wide. Alongside Raheem Sterling, who still remains a Chelsea player heading into the final six hours of the summer window, Chilwell was not given a shirt number for the season.