Chelsea have snuck in a small bit of business on Thursday, signing England youth international Jesse Derry, who had been a free agent after letting his contract run down at Crystal Palace. The 18-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the Blues, as confirmed
by the official website. Presumably he will be joining the Development Squad (i.e. under-21s).Derry made the step up to the U21 level with Palace halfway through last season, after scoring nine goals in eight U18 Premier League matches
to start the campaign. Predominantly a left-winger, he was Palace’s U18 Player of the Season two years ago when he scored 10 goals in 14 appearances at that level. Don’t see too many goalscoring wingers these days, so that could be an intriguing quality to add into the youth system.
By the way, if the last name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the son of former Palace and QPR defender Shaun Derry, whom we might remember from QPR’s entirely unamusing 1-0 win at the Bridge on the Day After New Year’s Day in 2013. I’m just kidding, no one remembers that game, at least not willingly. ¡Viva La Rafalución!
Anyway, welcome, Jesse!
A dream come true to join the world champions pic.twitter.com/N4Alz6GORt
— jesse derry (@jessederry_) July 31, 2025
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