Chelsea set to reach £160m transfer windfall as eighth deal of summer window edges closer

Chelsea have agreed a deal with Strasbourg for Ishe Samuels-Smith to move to the Stade de la Meinau on a permanent contract, football.london understands.

The 19-year-old defender is on the verge of a move to eastern France after weeks of negotiations over personal terms reached a conclusion this week. The initial plan was for Samuels-Smith to go out on loan this summer, but Strasbourg, Chelsea's sister club, showed a keen interest in the versatile defender.

Samuels-Smith's entourage have been negotiating with the French club for a couple of weeks over personal terms but an agreement has finally been reached. The former Everton defender, who signed for Chelsea two years ago for around £4million, is now set to fly to Strasbourg to finalise the move after being on standby in his family home in Manchester over the past two weeks.

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The teenage defender will remain loosely on the club's books due to BlueCo's ownership of Strasbourg. Once the sale is finalised, Samuels-Smith could become Chelsea's eighth permanent outgoing of the summer - although Joao Felix's £43.7million switch to Al-Nassr could also be official by then.

The Blues will surpass the £160million-mark - and that is without including add-ons - once Samuels-Smith becomes a Strasbourg player officially. As mentioned, Felix's move to Saudi Arabia is in its final stages, while the club have received £52million for Noni Madueke, £25million for Djordje Petrovic, £12.5million for Mathis Amougou, £12million for Bashir Humphreys, £5million for Kepa Arrizabalaga and £2million for Marcus Bettinelli.

In terms of incoming transfers, Chelsea are looking to wrap up deals to sign both Xavi Simons and Jorrel Hato from RB Leipzig and Ajax, respectively. football.london understands the Blues are preparing an opening offer to Leipzig for Simons after progress in talks over the possible signing of the 22-year-old Dutchman.

Simons already has a broad agreement with Chelsea over personal terms, with the Netherlands international making it perfectly clear to Leipzig he wishes to leave and complete a move to Stamford Bridge. After days of talks on personal terms, the Blues then started dialogue with Leipzig over a fee for the Netherlands international and that has led to the west Londoners preparing their first offer.

Meanwhile, Chelsea remain in advanced negotiations with Ajax over a move for Hato. Similarly to the Simons situation, Hato has agreed on personal terms with the Blues but is waiting on the two clubs to find common ground regarding a fee.

More movement on both deals is expected in the coming days and there is a genuine confidence that both Simons and Hato will become Chelsea players sooner rather than later.