Caleb Wiley: Chelsea and USMNT defender joins Championship club Watford on loan

Wiley played twice for the USMNT in 2024

USA USMNT international Caleb Wiley playing football

USA international Caleb Wiley has signed for English second-tier club Watford in his second loan move since joining Chelsea in July 2024.

Left-back Wiley, who is yet to debut for the Premier League club, made six appearances for Strasbourg after joining the French top-flight side at the start of the season, with knee and shoulder injuries keeping the 20-year-old out for much of the first half of the campaign.

“It’ll be a couple of weeks before we see him in training, so that’s a known quantity and we’re fine with that,” manager Tom Cleverley told Watford’s website.

“Caleb’s a really athletic left-back with great technical quality – as you’d expect from a Chelsea player. He’s coming here having been playing at a high level with Strasbourg… he’s exactly the type of player who’s going to give us great competition in that area of the pitch.”

Caleb Wiley Chelsea stats

Wiley spent eight years with his hometown club, MLS team Atlanta United, making 77 appearances before moving to Chelsea for a reported £8.5 million.

The transfer was announced days before Wiley featured for the Under-23 US Men’s National Team (USMNT) at the 2024 Olympic Games, making brief substitute appearances against France and Guinea during the group stage, as well as during their 4-0 quarter-final defeat to Morocco.

The former youth international had made his senior debut in a friendly against Mexico in April 2023 in the first of his three caps to date.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca made Wiley his sixth signing after arriving last summer, with Strasbourg part of the same Blueco ownership group as the Blues.

Caleb Wiley Watford transfer

In their first season under former Manchester United midfielder Cleverley, Watford have been challenging to earn a play-off place by finishing in the top six positions in the English Football League Championship.

A run of six defeats and one draw in eight league matches has dropped them to 12th, three points off the sixth spot that would extend their season and give them a chance of returning to the Premier League, where they last featured in 2021/22.

Wiley could make his first appearance in a game in England when the Hornets attempt to end a three-game losing streak on Saturday (7.30am ET).

Cleverley’s side travel to fourth-placed Sunderland, who are 14 points above them and challenging to finish in the top two positions, which would result in automatic promotion to the Premier League.

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Ben Miller

Ben has more than 10 years' experience in sports journalism, covering two EURO tournaments, European club competitions, the Premier League, EFL and WSL and a variety of other major sporting events.

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