Chelsea have completed the signing of Caleb Wiley from Atlanta United.
The 19-year-old has signed a six-year deal with the option of a further 12 months. The Athletic previously reported that Chelsea were to pay a fee of around £8.5million ($10.9m) to their MLS counterparts with Wiley expected to head out on loan to Strasbourg — the French top-division side also controlled by Chelsea owners BlueCo — for the 2024-25 season.
Wiley is currently with the United States Olympic squad which is preparing to face hosts France in the men’s tournament’s opening game on Wednesday, followed by matches against Guinea and New Zealand.
The left-back has been capped twice by the U.S. senior side and five times for the Under-23s.
“Caleb epitomizes the pathway that we envisioned when we started this club,” Atlanta vice president and technical director Carlos Bocanegra said. “Born and raised in Atlanta, he joined our Academy at 11 years old, played for ATL UTD 2 and went on to earn every step in his path up to signing as a Homegrown.
“Over that time, he debuted for the U.S. Men’s National Team and was chosen to represent our country at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now he can continue his career at a top club in Europe. We wish Caleb the best in this next challenge of his career and look forward to following his journey.”
Wiley is the latest high-profile sale by Atlanta this transfer window after Thiago Almada joined Brazilian side Botafogo in an MLS-record deal and Georgios Giakoumakis was sold to Mexican club Cruz Azul.
Chelsea have already been active in the window, with Wiley joining Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Renato Viega, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Omari Kellyman as summer arrivals.