The forward’s Blues contract expires this summer and he will now join Championship side Preston on 1 July, initially on a one-year contract, with an option to extend.

It will be Brown's third consecutive campaign in the Championship, having spent last season on loan with relegated Sheffield Wednesday after helping Luton Town avoid the drop the previous term.

Now 24, he first joined Chelsea from West Bromwich Albion in 2013, aged 16. He captained our Under-19s to UEFA Youth League glory in 2014/15, scoring a brace in the final against Shakhtar Donetsk, and he was also part of the Under-18s team which lifted the FA Youth Cup that year, netting in the second leg of our final win over Manchester City.

Brown made his senior Chelsea debut as a substitute against his former club West Brom in the penultimate Premier League game of the 2014/15 campaign, before heading out on loan, initially with Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands.

After a successful spell with Rotherham, Brown helped Huddersfield earn promotion to the Premier League, but a knee injury marred his top-flight loan at Brighton and continued to trouble him during subsequent stays at Leeds, Luton and Sheffield Wednesday.

He now joins Preston, who finished 13th in last season’s Championship table and have former Chelsea winger Scott Sinclair in their squad, on a permanent basis.

All at Chelsea wish Izzy well for the season ahead with Preston and his future career.