It was the morning after the weekend before. Chelsea had just completed the loan with a conditional obligation to buy of Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich. Nobody was looking.
There was no app notification push from The Fifth Stand. A news story dropped and suddenly confusion followed from those who had spotted it.
Ishe Samuels-Smith had joined Swansea City for the remainder of the season. There isn’t much to see here. Except, just over a month earlier, Chelsea sold Samuels-Smith to RC Strasbourg.
The fellow BlueCo-owned club picked up the talented defender for ÂŁ6million. A series of events meant that his end goal for the window would not change but his journey was anything but smooth.
football.london understands that Samuels-Smith did not settle in France and that when this combined with Liam Rosenior’s judgement of other options in his squad – as well as the late arrival of Ben Chilwell – a return, at least on the books, was arranged. Samuels-Smith still ended up in Wales with a chance to play in the Championship.
As a rangey left-sided centre-back/left-back, he is extremely highly rated and was called up for England’s Under-20s for the first time during the break. He has been a regular throughout the age group pathway with his country, a journey that started at Everton. Chelsea tied him down to a long-term contract earlier this year, a statement of their hopes for him.
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He is now stepping into senior football for the first time and has ended up at a familiar location for Chelsea. The club have built strong relationships with many sides over the years but their link to Swansea has continued over the change of ownership, it would seem.
Whereas the connection to Strasbourg is obvious, those within the EFL and elsewhere are often more subtle. Not everywhere is Vitesse Arnhem to Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea, but Swansea did home many a player.
Charlton Athletic have done the same previous – notably with Ian Maatsen and Conor Gallagher – whilst Burnley are currently occupying that space. The Swansea switch had gone dry for a few years but it is worth remembering what a treasure trove it has been.
Most recently, Chelsea sent Marc Guehi there for 18 months. First as a January move in 2020 and then for the full season to follow. Guehi went on to play 59 times and cemented himself as a key centre-back able to operate in the middle, right, or left.
He had made his Chelsea debut shortly before. Frank Lampard made him one of many youngsters to get a run out during a League Cup win over Grimsby Town. Guehi started and finished that game and played the full 90 of the round after as well in a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
Even as a teenager he stood out for his passing off both feet and commanding presence. As a captain of his teams in the Cobham academy, Guehi’s potential was being realised.
When he came back to Chelsea in 2021 he was ready for the next challenge and opted to go to Crystal Palace for around ÂŁ20million. From there he has flourished and delivered on the expectations. Guehi is captain at Selhurst Park, a staple in the England senior setup and has been the subject of immense interest from Liverpool.
Chelsea themselves have considered buying him on more than one occasion since his exit. The Swansea loan played a huge part in his development.
The same is true for Gallagher, who would leave Charlton after six months in order to go up to the top of the Championship. He had made a blistering start to life at the Valley and slotted in quickly to a team fighting for promotion.
Gallagher shrugged off the mid-season shake-up and started 19 league games in a row as well as the two play-off semi-finals only for Swansea to fall short.
He established himself as an energetic and impactful midfielder. Although his next loan, at West Brom, did not go to plan, Gallagher still played 32 times across his first Premier League season before Palace offered him another shot at it.
He is now a Champions League-level player in and around the England squad. Another tick for the Swansea box. Gallagher’s Cobham teammate, Tammy Abraham, can say the same.
He had a tougher time going from Championship bagsman (23 goals in 41 appearances as a 19-year-old is no mean feat) to Premier League No.9 but still progressed through the ranks. Abraham found life hard as the striker for a club battling relegation but did manage five goals from 1,700 league minutes.
He went back to the Championship, hammered in 25 goals, and then returned to Chelsea where he is still the only striker since Diego Costa to manage 15 open-play league goals in a single season. Swansea was a learning curve for him rather than a platform to spring from, but it was still a valuable lesson.
Then there are others. Carlo Ancelotti’s long-term assistant Paul Clement had a managerial spell at Swansea. He is still enjoying a fine coaching career since a disappointing spell in charge.
Going further back, young midfielder Josh McEachran – whose brother George was part of the Grimsby side that beat United in the Carabao Cup last month, as a comedic and slightly spooky aside – was at Swansea in 2012 for a period as well. Chelsea may well be as encouraged by outsiders just as much too.
Viktor Gyokeres famously spent a year on loan there in the Championship without having much to shout about at all. He would follow that up with his own Abraham-like bounceback and has scored plenty since.
Morgan Gibbs-White had an underwhelming loan at Swansea as well. This is now about omens rather than some grand plan if Samuels-Smith does not nail it at Swansea. However, the signs are good.
If you do well at Swansea then there is a way up and if you don’t, Gibbs-White and Gyokeres have shown it is far from the end of the world.
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