Chelsea have reportedly agreed a £40m deal with Sporting CP to sign Geovany Quenda, though with the young winger not set to join us until after next season, in the summer of 2026.
According to The Athletic’s rundown of the situation, that concession was key to Chelsea gazumping Manchester United in the process. So Quenda will be 19 by the time he joins us, with the Blues hoping that he will have 100 senior professional appearances under his belt by then. He’s currently on 44, in barely eight months, having featured in every single match for Sporting so far this season.
The report assures that Chelsea haven’t made this latest acquisition on just a whim, and in fact believe that alongside Estêvão Willian, we will now have two of the top three under-23 wingers in the world in the squad (the third is Lamine Yamal). Estêvão’s lighting up the Brazilian league and Quenda’s turning heads in Portugal, but comparing them to World Cup-winning Lamine Yamal seems rather optimistic at this stage. But hey, ya gotta believe!
However, despite those such bold claims, we are apparently still not satisfied, with the report adding that we are still “looking to add another right-footed wide player” this summer (as well as a new No.9). The first rule of Win-Stew is that you can never have too many young wingers!
One last interesting tidbit in the report is that former young winger Kendry Páez is instead “being lined up to be an understudy/support for central midfielder Enzo Fernández, rather than operating on the flanks”. Kendry often operated as the No.10 for Independiente last season, but also saw action on the wings and in central midfield. (And: Andrey Santos to compete with Roméo Lavia; Dário Essugo to back up Moisés Caicedo; Mathis Amougou to go on loan to Strasbourg.)
Chelsea & their move for Geovany Quenda:
#CFC believe he's one of the top three under-23 wingers in the world
They want five wingers for the two wide roles
Left flank is where he'll most likely play
@SJohnsonSport, @lauriewhitwell & @anantaajith
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) March 15, 2025