Chelsea Football Club has signed highly-rated Portuguese midfielder Dario Essugo from Sporting CP in another signal of the club’s commitment to investing in young players. The 18-year-old joins Chelsea’s group of young talents as the club embarks on a long-term rebuilding project.
Dario Essugo Profile
Essugo has been very good in the youth ranks in Portugal since he began to break through into the first team at Sporting at only 16 years old. He is technically blessed with a highly-developed skill set, skilled in smart positional awareness and spatial use with his passing range; he can play in either defensive midfield or more advanced central roles limiting where he can be tactically deployed.
🚨🔵 Official, confirmed. Dario Essugo joins Chelsea with immediate effect from Sporting for €22.3m transfer fee.
Deal sealed in March and now announced for the Portuguese midfielder.
Contract valid until June 2033. pic.twitter.com/6Rwq64Mwub
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 2, 2025
According to reports, the deal will be around €5 million for Chelsea Football Club, with potential add-ons, as Sporting CP negotiated a sizable sell-on clause of 20%, which could be substantial if Essugo develops into an elite-level talent. Essugo has committed long-term to Chelsea with a contract that will keep him at Stamford Bridge until at least 2029.
Dario Essugo Development Pathway
This transfer aligns perfectly with Chelsea’s new direction of transfer policy under the new ownership. Chelsea are highly active in pursuing some of the brightest young stars around the world, and Thomas Essugo will be joined with Andrey Santos, Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka. All prospects who could join the club’s midfield rotation in future years. Chelsea have a very comprehensive scouting programme which allowed them to identify Essugo to further develop into a first-team player in the future.
Get him into the club’s development structure/reset.
Train with the senior players regularly.
Loan or trial at a club that can give him regular first-team exposure.
Introduce him gradual levels of Premier League football .
Technical Attributes
Essugo comes to Chelsea with a lot of qualities. He has a range of pass and vision, positional awareness (senses of space). This lad got an immense response to pressure (calm/phlegmatic). Moreover, he comes with tremendous versatility of play (tactically space aware). He also has leadership qualities through Portugal Youth Teams.
Chelsea complete a £18.5m deal for Dario Essugo from Sporting CP with the 20-year-old midfielder signing with the club until 2033 🔵🖊️ pic.twitter.com/e5kqZkWxRU
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 2, 2025
The young midfielder has to overcome numerous hurdles and preapre himself a lot to get established at Stamford Bridge. This includes the demands of English football (physical nature), language and culture barriers. He also requires combativeness and competition in the center of the pitch and the pressure of top Premier League Clubs.
Expert Opinion
Portuguese football analyst Miguel Silva stated: “Essugo has all the tools to be successful at the highest level of football. His ability to read the game is exceptional for his age. Moreover, he has the technical quality to be successful in Chelsea’s style of play. He just needs to carefully develop and not rushed assimilating into the first team
While there is frustration at losing yet another academy product, Sporting CP understand the financial reality of football today. The clause to ensure they will benefit if Essugo reaches his potential at Chelsea is substantial. The Portuguese club’s director of football stated they could not retain the best players when Premier League sides come in for them.
Sporting’s Perspective and Final Approach
Dario Essugo coming to Chelsea is another measured risk taken on youth by the London club. While there may not be immediate returns, the potential in the long term is much higher. If carefully developed in the proper way, there is a consistency to Essugo’s youthful playing style going forward. This deal represents an exciting opportunity for Chelsea to seamlessly have a midfielder develop and establish himself. He will not only join the ranks at Chelsea but ultimately affect the level of their football moving forward.
This transfer shows Chelsea Football Club keep getting younger while still one of the best clubs in Europe, adopting youth approaches to build a squad for the future.”
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