Chelsea have just announced the signing of versatile Portugal youth international Renato Veiga from Basel
“I’m absolutely buzzing to be here, This is one of the biggest clubs in England – the biggest for me – and I’m just really excited to get started,” Veiga said in quotes on the club’s official website.
A £12m deal, if you go by the numbers Nizaar Kinsella has put out there, this could be a real bargain if the 20 year old comes close to his potential. He’s signed a 7 year contract with the club option for a further year, and will immediately join up with Enzo Maresca’s squad at Cobham to join in preseason training.
Most of his senior experience came playing for Sporting CP’s B team, but he has since played in both the Bundesliga and the Swiss top flight with Basel.
🆕Chelsea have announced the signing of Renato Veiga on a seven-year deal. He joins for £12million from FC Basel. "I’m absolutely buzzing to be here, This is one of the biggest clubs in England – the biggest for me – and I’m just really excited to get started," Veiga said. pic.twitter.com/1iurtbyBlx
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) July 12, 2024
Where the new man fits in
Fabrizio Romano’s initial Tweet which revealed the move was happening claimed that the left-footed Veiga was being bought with the expectation of playing potentially at left back, centre back or “number 6” at the base of midfield.
There’s been a clear desire to bring more left footed players into the squad, and Veiga’s versatility means he could be a very useful option in all those positions.
Having that extra cover in three positions also makes selling players in all of those areas more feasible, and we could now start to see more momentum in terms of outgoing players.
We don’t expect Veiga to be first or second choice in any one position, but he should be an option in at least three of them. As it stands, we don’t expect him to be loaned out – but if it proves hard to sell players like Trevoh Chalobah and one of the left backs already on the books, we can’t rule it out entirely.
