Chelsea have continued their strategy of snapping up the game’s best youth players, although this time they weren’t the ones to announce it.
Sporting Lisbon instead dropped the news with an official statement on their website detailing the double deal for Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo.
The pair of midfielders will arrive for a combined fee of £62.4million, but the more expensive of the two, £44m winger Quenda, will stay in Portugal next season.
Essugo, meanwhile, will arrive at Chelsea this summer for £18.4m, having impressed on loan at LaLiga club Las Palmas this season.
The 20-year-old defensive midfielder has been one of a number of players who have stood out for the island side, despite them being in a relegation battle, although he does have two red cards in his last four games.
As for Quenda, the 17-year-old looks like the next elite talent out of Sporting’s incredible youth academy, and has two goals and six assists in his breakthrough campaign.
His fee of £44m is the most for any player transferred below the age of 18, although Real Madrid’s Endrick could eventually top him as his £30m deal has another £30m in add-ons.
He was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, where he would have linked up with fellow Portuguese stars Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.
Dalot was recently asked about Quenda following his call-up to the senior Portugal squad, and said the youngster has the talent to be a mainstay at international level for years to come.
“Above all, it is yet another demonstration of the quality of the Portuguese player, of football in Portugal,” said the Red Devils defender.
“He is a player of great quality, very promising, that is why he is here.
“He knows that being here is not for everyone, being able to represent a big club for which he will play is a great responsibility, but he likes to play, he is happy, he expresses himself in the best way he knows how and we are here to help him.
“But it was his quality that got him here. He has to work hard, he knows that. The advice is always the same… the hardest part is not getting there, but staying there and I believe he has all the skills to do so.“
Chelsea have already spent more than just the £62.4m mentioned, as they’ve also already agreed deals for Estevao Willian (£29m) and Kendry Paez (£17m) ahead of the summer transfer window.
Like Quenda, the pair are elite level teenagers, with Estevao breaking numerous age records for Palmeiras in his breakout campaign in Brazil.
The 17-year-old attacker, nicknamed ‘Messinho’ (little Messi) has taken a number honours from Neymar, including most goals and assists for an under-18 player.
Chelsea have traditionally been one of the most active sides in European football when it comes to the transfer market, but things have stepped up even more under new owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly.
The 2021 Champions League winning squad has been completely rebuilt and the age range drastically reduced, leading to two record windows.
The Blues spent a staggering world record £450m in the 2022 summer transfer window and then also broke the January record with £320m spent at the start of 2023.
Results haven’t quite followed with Chelsea finishing 12th and sixth in the Premier League, but the youth policy has paid off in some areas with Cole Palmer becoming one of the game’s premier talents since moving to Stamford Bridge.
However, things are looking up for the Blues, who are are locked in a tense battle for a top-four finish and a return to Champions League football.
Just five points currently separate Chelsea in fourth and Bournemouth in tenth, with Man City, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham and Aston Villa also gunning for qualification to Europe’s top tier.
