Renato Veiga played his first minutes for Chelsea on Saturday night against Celtic, coming on as a late sub.
It wasn’t enough time to show much, but he’s been in training with the group for a while now, and had plenty of good things to say about manager Enzo Maresca in quotes picked up by the Athletic:
“He (Maresca) is a very direct manager, very direct in what he wants. You just have to enjoy and learn the maximum that you can in every training session, to give everything you can in every session — that is very important for him as well and after you can replicate it on the pitch.”
Despite signing for £14m, Veiga himself doesn’t know where he will be this season either:
“We will see at the end of pre-season or after the market closes (what happens). I feel the trust from the manager and my colleagues. I just want to do my best and we will see of course.”
A truly uncertain future
Even Veiga isn’t clear on his future, then. The sense we get so far is that he is likely to be part of the first team squad in the season to come, despite being a relative unknown compared to some players in the squad. His versatility means he can play left back, centre back or defensive midfield. Those are all positions where we might end up needing some cover, so keeping him around would make sense.
On the other hand, the fact that even he doesn’t know means that there’s still the potential for anything to happen. A late window splurge on, say, an expensive left back could suddenly make him surplus to requirements. We really believe the line that nothing is yet decided for him and some of the other younger players who Maresca is running the rule over.
