Manchester United had hoped to sign Quenda.Manchester United had hoped to sign Quenda.
Manchester United had hoped to sign Quenda. | Getty Images
Chelsea have landed a major transfer coup this week, which is reported to have left Premier League rivals Manchester United ‘stunned’.
Manchester United were left ‘stunned’ by the news that Chelsea had agreed a deal in principle to sign Sporting Lisbon winger Geovany Quenda this week with the Red Devils having made the teenager their own transfer priority.
The BBC reported that 17-year-old is set to sign a lengthy seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge, with the option of another season, after a staggering £40 million deal was agreed between the two clubs. Quenda will not actually arrive at Chelsea until 2026 as he continues his progress in Portugal but comes with high expectations and the ability to play on either flank.
Hide Ad
A Portugal under-21 international already, Quenda has two goals and eight assists in 43 matches since breaking into the first team at Sporting. Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim worked with the player at Sporting and the Red Devils had been linked with a transfer move for the player himself.
Chelsea sign Portugal ‘wonderkid’
Joao Paiva from CNN Portugal was quoted by the BBC describing Quenda as the ‘biggest wonderkid’ in Portugal right now. He said: "We started hearing about Quenda a few years ago, when he was 14 or 15 in the youth teams at Sporting, and he already had some qualities – impressive skills, quickness of the movements and how fast he can be. We already consider him a fantastic player, but he has a lot of room to grow.
"Quenda is a fast player, quick player, and this is his first season in Sporting's first team – he didn't start the season as a winger, the position he plays now, he started more as an offensive right-back in the system Ruben Amorim used to play, because Sporting didn't have a good enough option at the time.
"He did extremely well in the first game against Porto in the Super Cup, even scored a goal. He played quite a few games until he was moved up to right and left winger. He has played a majority of the games this season as a left winger."
Hide Ad
Manchester United ‘in shock’ by Chelsea transfer news
Quenda was called up to Roberto Martinez’s Portugal squad on Friday in a bumper week for the youngster. It’s cause for celebration at Chelsea but has left a sour taste in the mouth of one Premier League rival.
GiveMeSport reports on Saturday that Manchester United were ‘left in shock’ by the transfer news and ‘stunned’ that Chelsea had managed to agree a deal with the club and the player before them. It had been thought that Quenda would commit to joining the Red Devils, regardless of whether they achieved European qualification for the 2025/26 season.
The outlet adds that Manchester United were ‘intending to prioritise’ a move for Quenda and that there was a ‘serious possibility’ of a deal being agreed this summer. That has made his upcoming move to Chelsea ‘a bitter pill to swallow’.
In other news, a Chelsea star who hasn’t missed a game this season is in risk of a Premier League ban against Arsenal.