Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer celebrate
Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer celebrate with Danny Welbeck(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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Geovany Quenda remains committed and motivated to having a strong debut season at Chelsea despite a slow start to his Stamford Bridge tenure.
The 19-year-old winger, signed from Sporting CP for a fee around £40million this summer, has made just one competitive appearance for the Blues thus far. That was a brief cameo appearance in the 3-2 victory away at Fulham on matchday one. Quenda, though, is not too concerned regarding his lack of minutes in a Chelsea shirt.
Xabi Alonso has included Quenda in his last two squads, in the defeat at Arsenal and the win over Leeds United, but the Portuguese attacker was an unused substitute in both. Sources close to the player say he is still going through a period of adaptation in west London and the slow start has not affected his confidence or belief.
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The competition for roles on the flanks is fierce in Alonso's squad. Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer, if fit and available, are likely to be the Chelsea manager's first picks in the majority of matches this season. Pedro Neto, Estevao Willian and Jamie Gittens are also knocking on Alonso's door, with Quenda's playing time being impacted as a result.
Alonso has operated with a 3-4-3 and a 4-2-3-1 formation in the early exchanges of the season. Quenda can play as one of the wing-backs on either side but an out-and-out winger comes more natural to the Portuguese teenager.
Quenda is focused on being ready for Alonso when his opportunity eventually comes around. Sources close to the winger say there remains a belief that he will have a crucial role to play under Alonso in his debut season in England.
The former Sporting winger watched on from the bench as Chelsea survived a scare in a dramatic nine-goal thriller with Leeds on Wednesday. Tarik Muharemovic and Brenden Aaronson put the Whites two goals to the good at Stamford Bridge inside 48 minutes before Alonso's second-half substitutes came to the party.
Palmer scored two in the space of a couple of minutes to level the match before Pedro Neto put Chelsea ahead on the hour-mark. Danny Welbeck then scored to give the Blues a two-goal lead, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin gave the visitors hope 75 minutes in.
Valentin Barco then scored his first goal for the club with 10 minutes of normal time remaining before Welbeck added his second of the night with one of the final kicks of the game to secure a 6-3 victory for the west Londoners and passage into the Carabao Cup fourth round.