Martinez has praised the former Chelsea starplaceholder image
Martinez has praised the former Chelsea star | AFP via Getty Images
One of the players Chelsea allowed to leave in the summer has been doing well.
One former Chelsea player has been praised for his improvement since leaving Stamford Bridge in the recent past. The Blues have a high turnover of players, and Todd Boehly’s transfer model placed great emphasis on signing young players who have potential for growth, both on a playing and value level.
The idea is that players will sign and almost immediately have potential to make Chelsea money even if they aren’t seen as being good enough to become important players at the club.
One player who ended up going down that path is Renato Veiga, with the Portugal international joining from Sporting CP on a £12million deal and only managing seven league appearances for the Blues before his £26million move to Villarreal last summer following a positive loan spell with Juventus.
Interestingly, Veiga joined Chelsea as a defensive midfielder, but others have seen him as more of a centre-back, and that’s where has played for Villarreal, who are looking strong candidates to finish inside LaLiga’s top four this season.
Veiga has made 18 league appearances for the Yellow Submarine so far, and according to his national team boss, Roberto Martinez, the growth has been evident.
“Renato Veiga, also left-footed, who gives us very good balance,” Martinez told Mundo Maldini. “He has already been at three or four clubs with a very high level of demand. He went through Sporting, goes to Switzerland, then Chelsea.
“That’s where I think he really settles into his position on the pitch. He started out a bit as a number 6. A defensive midfielder, now he’s more of a centre-back, working well with Marcelino and improving a lot.”
Did Chelsea make a mistake with Veiga?
It’s tough to say Chelsea made a mistake with Veiga when they made a big profit on his sale, but given he is only 22 years of age and already improving quickly, you do wonder whether this was another case of Chelsea quitting on a player too early.
The Blues spent January searching for a ball-playing centre-back, and they will go into the summer still needing one, so you wonder whether they could have saved some cash by keeping Veiga, or at least only loaning him out.
Continue Reading