Chelsea's deadline day was eventful to say the least. But they did not do too much in the name of additions. It had looked like the arrival of Facundo Buonanotte, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, was their only signing in the final day of the summer transfer window. But it appears that the Blues quietly pulled off another one as well, although it went under the radar and everybody missed it.
There have been a lot of transfer business between Chelsea and Strasbourg in recent years with both clubs under the BlueCo. And we might have just witnessed the strangest one on deadline day.
It was just earlier in the summer that Ishe Samuels-Smith had joined Strasbourg on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee. And somehow, he has already been re-signed by Chelsea.
As reported by The Athletic, Samuels-Smith has rejoined Chelsea from Strasbourg. The move comes only 33 days after signing a permanent deal with the French club.
Chelsea quietly made last deadline day signing everybody missed
The player has not been brought back to stay at Stamford Bridge though. Swansea City have already announced that they have completed the signing of Samuels-Smith on loan from Chelsea for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
On the surface level, it is hard to make any sense of this double move involving Samuels-Smith. But BlueCo are very shrewd when it comes to their transfer dealings. So, one would imagine that there was surely some reason for it that will benefit one or both clubs involved.
Let's see how things go for Samuels-Smith at Swansea City. He is a Chelsea player once again, so we will be keeping an eye out on his development at the Welsh club. If he does well in the Championship, it could lead to a place in the first-team squad in the future or perhaps a bigger transfer move.