Ishé Barrington Samuels-Smith (born 6 June 2006) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a left-back for Chelsea.

Club career

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Samuels-Smith joined the academy of Everton at the age of nine. He progressed through the academy, and in September 2022 was named by English newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as the best player of his age group at Everton. On 8 November of the same year, then-manager

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

named Samuels-Smith on the bench as Everton faced

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in the third round of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. Had he come off the bench, he would've broken

Thierry Small Thierry Small (born 1 August 2004) is an English footballer who plays as a left-back for club Charlton Athletic. Small became the youngest player in Everton's history in January 2021, aged 16 years and 176 days, but turned professional with ...

's record as the youngest Everton player in history, however he did not feature as Everton lost 4–1. Following Lampard's sacking in January 2023, new manager

Sean Dyche Sean Mark Dyche (; born 28 June 1971) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Burnley. During his playing career, Dyche played as a centre-back, making his professional debut in 1990 a ...

would call Samuels-Smith up to the bench again in April of the same year, though he again failed to feature as Everton lost 3–1 to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. Having initially been linked with Samuels-Smith in July 2022, fellow

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Chelsea were reported to have agreed a three-year deal with Samuels-Smith in July 2023, with a £4 million bid made. This deal was later officially confirmed on 8 July 2023.

International career

Samuels-Smith has represented England from under-15 to under-18 level. He was a member of the squad that finished fifth at the

2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2023) is the 20th UEFA European Under-17 Championship (39th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football championship organised ...

and his performances during the competition led to his inclusion in the team of the tournament. On 6 September 2023, Samuels-Smith made his England U-18 debut during a 2-0 defeat to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

. On 2 November 2023, Samuels-Smith was included in the England squad for the

2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the 19th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It will be held in Peru fro ...

Personal life

Samuels-Smith has a twin brother, Odin, who plays for Everton.

Honours

England U18s *2024 U18 Pinatar Super Cup

Career statistics

Club

. ;Notes

Honours

Individual *UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels-Smith, Ishé 2006 births Living people Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders Everton F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players