Chelsea told why they need to prepare for ‘mad’ new signing who is ‘generational talent’

Rob McCarthy 23 Mar 2025 3:04 PM

Geovany Quenda new Chelsea signing

Chelsea have been told to expect a ‘mad’ addition to their squad when Geovany Quenda eventually arrives at the club in the summer of 2026, following his season back on loan at Sporting.

The Stamford Bridge outfit completed deals to sign highly-rated Portuguese stars Quenda and defensive midfielder Dario Essugo from Sporting on Friday in a combined deal worth £62.4m (€74.5m / $81m).

Exciting winger Quenda, 17, broke into Sporting’s first team at the start of the season and has since made 44 appearances for the Portuguese giants – despite his tender age.

It was Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim who actually gave the talented teenager his Sporting debut, with the Red Devils also heavily with Quenda before his eventual Chelsea agreement.

And, according to current Sporting defender Ivan Fresneda, they should be extremely excited by their new signing.

“I have a very good relationship with Quenda, I’m 20 and he’s 17. Because of our age, we also have that relationship,” Fresneda told FlashScore. “I was surprised [by his rapid rise], of course. All you have to do is watch the training sessions, stay here for a week and see what that kid does, you’d go mad.

“Chelsea’s interest doesn’t surprise anyone at the club. Quenda is going to be big in the future. This season, next season and from now on. He’s going to be something to talk about.”

Portuguese football journalist and pundit Mariana Fernandes also believes Quenda is a ‘generational talent’ and insists he is ready to make an impact in the Premier League.

“He is a generational talent,” she told BBC Sport. “The mentality is there, psychologically he is there and I think he is ready to play for Chelsea and to play in the Premier League.

“He will need to adapt to playing in a bigger league, a bigger club, with bigger challenges and bigger opponents.”

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Not everyone is impressed with Chelsea’s moves for the Sporting talents though, with former defender William Gallas questioning why they are not trying to add more experience to an already young squad.

“I still don’t understand why Chelsea are signing only young players,” the Frenchman said earlier this week. “It looks like it’s an investment on the young players. They buy that young player for that price and then they sell him for more money.

“But at the moment, I don’t know if Chelsea have the opportunity to do that. They have already bought some young players, but the young players they have bought, I don’t think that their value has gone up.

“So it looks like they are making mistakes. Don’t forget that this generation is completely different, when you put so much money into the young players it’s not the same as 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

“For young players, it’s very difficult for them to deal with all that pressure, celebrity things off the pitch and their performance on the pitch. Sometimes it’s not the same.

“So if you want to invest you have to be sure, but nobody is sure right now.”