Chelsea will soon be getting ready to go for another pre-season tour of the United States.
With some high-profile games against the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid awaiting the Blues, a lot of eyes will be on the sides selected by Enzo Maresca as he prepares for his own first stint in the Premier League.
Last season saw a plethora of young players used by Mauricio Pochettino, however the majority of those were not handed opportunities to impress at Stamford Bridge.
Andrey Santos played pretty much every game of the tour last season, however he went on to be loaned out twice to two different countries as the season went on.
It has already been reported that a number of young stars are going to be included on their first ever first team pre-season tour, and this provides a fresh set of chances for players to make their case to a new manager.
One of those who was mentioned as likely to be going was Ishe Samuels-Smith, who played plenty of games in Premier League 2 last season.
Despite the fact he is just 17 years of age, he has been seen on the bench on a handful of occassions too, including the Premier League match against Manchester City.
Ishe Samuels-Smith has chance to become Chelsea first teamer
His versatility is what sets him aside from a number of other players in the academy at this stage, with him looking equally as comfortable playing on the left of defence as he does in the middle.
This could be big for his prospects under Maresca, where it has been noted that the club could be in for a defender who is versatile enough to play in both of those positions.
Signing a player for that role is likely not to come cheap though, so the club will no doubt be looking to what they already have in an attempt to plug that gap too.
Samuels-Smith has the perfect chance to show it should be him that gets that opportunity for next season.
