Chelsea have already been busy in the transfer market ahead of the summer transfer window, as Todd Boehly and co are looking to continue adding the best young talent from around the world to their ranks, improving Enzo Maresca's squad for the coming years.
Sporting duo Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo have both been confirmed as new signings for the Blues, with a combined fee in the region of £62.4m. The 17-year-old Portuguese winger costing up to £44m and Essugo (currently on loan with Las Palmas) costing around £18.4m.
Chelsea now have Quenda, Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Estevao as potential right-sided wingers. So what could the Blues' plan be, and how will Maresca navigate his wide talent to maximise their ability and potential?
Chelsea's future wingers
With Estevao arriving at Chelsea in the summer, Chelsea will likely have the Brazilian and Madueke as their right-wing options in the squad, whilst Estevao could also play second-fiddle to Cole Palmer in the attacking midfield position, in order to distribute their minutes.
noni madueke
Quenda doesn't join Chelsea until 2026, staying with Sporting for one more season to continue his development. Therefore, this gives Chelsea the scope to assess their options in the 2025/26 season, before integrating the Portuguese winger into their plans.
Neto is another who, like Quenda, can play on both sides, making 15 appearances for Chelsea on the right, 12 appearances from the left and six appearances through the middle. This gives Maresca flexibility, in order to have wingers that can provide depth on both flanks.
Geovany Quenda vs Noni Madueke comparison
Stats (per 90 mins)
Goals
Assists
xG
xAG
Progressive Carries
Progressive Passes
Shots Total
Key Passes
Passes into Pen Area
Shot-Creating Actions
Successful Take-Ons
Stats taken from FBref
Quenda and Madueke are of a similar mould of winger, both very direct, pacey widemen, who like to beat their man 1v1 and be in isolated areas with the fullback.
This is perfect for the Maresca system, and you can see a world where Quenda plays off the left in order to facilitate both direct wingers in the same lineup.
The Chelsea star who may now need to leave
When thinking about Quenda being used as both a left and right-sided winger, and Neto, who can also be used on both sides, the future for Jadon Sancho becomes slightly more unclear.
Essugo-Chelsea-Quenda
It has recently been reported that Chelsea could pay a "penalty clause" to pull out of their agreement to make Sancho's loan move permanent in the summer.
The 24-year-old has made 28 appearances since joining the Blues, scoring two goals, providing six assists and totalling 1,725 minutes played.
sancho-chelsea
Maresca previously labelled Sancho a "special" player back in October, but the English winger has been in poor form recently, highlighted by this eye-widening stat, attempting 19 crosses and completing none of them this season in the Premier League.
Sancho is currently earning £100k per week at Chelsea, which is more than both Madueke (£50k per week) and Quenda (earning €9(£8k) per week).
Also, the Blues are not covering all of Sancho's wages during the season-long loan, which would mean, should he join on a permanent deal, those wages will have to be paid or re-negotiated.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca celebrates with Jadon Sancho after the match
Perhaps with Quenda joining in 2026, the wise decision would be to send Sancho back to United, reassessing their wide options in the summer ahead of the 2025/26 season, as rumours also continue to circulate of the Blues being interested in other right-footed left-wingers.
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