Why Middlesbrough should be in pole position to beat Sunderland, Stoke & Rangers to Chelsea player | OneFootball

Middlesbrough's backroom staff have a history with Chelsea's coaching team, and they could give Boro the advantage in signing Ishe Samuels-Smith.

Chelsea youngster Ishe Samuels-Smith is a wanted man this summer, with a whole host of clubs interested in taking the 2006-born full-back on loan for the season.

Football.london has reported that Premier League new boys Sunderland, Scottish giants Rangers, and Championship duo Middlesbrough and Stoke City are pushing to sign the 19-year-old, with all four holding club-to-club talks with the current UEFA Conference League holders recently.

Samuels-Smith's career so far has been purely youth-team-based, with the exciting youngster making appearances in the U18 and U21 squads of Chelsea, and Everton before that.

If he were to make a move this summer on loan, he would be making his professional debut, and Middlesbrough could find themselves in the driving seat due to a couple of names in new manager Rob Edwards' coaching staff who are well apt at developing youngsters at Stamford Bridge.

Harry Watling and Adi Viveash's background in the Chelsea academy

The announcement of Rob Edwards as Middlesbrough's new manager this summer faced a significant delay due to a few kinks being ironed out regarding the 42-year-old's backroom staff.

In the end, Edwards was able to bring on board former Coventry City assistant Adi Viveash and former Ebbsfleet United boss Harry Watling on board to assist him, both of whom have spent time in the Chelsea academy.

Watling's coaching career started at the Cobham Training Centre. As a then-19-year-old, he began work as a development centre coach with the Blues in 2009, where he remained until 2014.

Viveash, on the other hand, served for six years coaching various Chelsea youth teams, spending three years as U18 boss and three as U21 head coach before he departed in 2017 to join up with Mark Robins as Coventry City's assistant coach.

The three years that the two spent at Chelsea together saw the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Nathan Ake and Andreas Christensen all progress through the youth team, eventually making it as first-team regulars.

Viveash himself oversaw the progression of players such as Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher and Reece James to name but a few, and is clearly a highly talented coach when it comes to developing talented young players.

So, not only are the duo perfectly apt at assisting Rob Edwards in the Riverside dugout, but they also hold some good credit at Chelsea as two names who are experienced in developing the Blues' young stars.

Rob Edwards' assistant pairing could hold the keys to exciting Chelsea loan deal

Whilst it's been eight years since Viveash departed Chelsea, and even longer since Watling left, their standing as former employers at the Premier League side could give Middlesbrough the chance to sign Samuels-Smith on loan for the 2025/26 campaign.

Samuels-Smith will ultimately have the final say, but you'd imagine Chelsea would be giving him pointers about where's best to go to maximise his chances of being a member of the first-team squad at Stamford Bridge upon return.

Enzo Maresca has a brilliant track record of giving academy players their bows in the Chelsea side, handing out debuts to eight different young stars in his debut campaign.

So the 19-year-old full-back should be hoping that, wherever he goes, he will be able to make an impact on the pitch and grow into a player ready to play in the Premier League.

If Middlesbrough ends up being the place for that to happen, then Boro fans may have their manager's assistants to thank.