Chelsea news: Who is ‘complete player’ Geovany Quenda?

When the news emerged last week that Chelsea had agreed a deal in principle to sign Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, eyebrows were raised.

A fee of up to £44m has now been agreed for a 17-year-old player in a position that the Blues already seem well-stocked in?

Sometimes exceptions need to be made when the talent is as promising as Quenda’s.

But just who is the teenage sensation?

“He is a very creative player. He is a very young player and has a lot of potential to achieve,” Portuguese football journalist and pundit Mariana Fernandes told BBC Sport.

“A right-winger with a left foot – so he has a left foot but also likes to go through opponents with his right foot, which becomes very confusing for defenders to try and stop him.

“He is really quick, really smart and, honestly, I don’t know how he is still only 17-years-old because he seems always so put together and mature in the way he transforms the game.”

Quenda was born in the African nation of Guinea-Bissau but moved to Portugal as a child and joined a small club on the outskirts of Lisbon. He caught the eye of Benfica scouts and spent two years in their academy before moving closer to home and joining Sporting.

In 2023 he signed his first professional contract and, while with the reserve team, caught the eye of ex-Sporting manager Ruben Amorim, who gave him his senior debut in the Portuguese Super Cup at the beginning of this campaign.

At just 17 years and 95 days, the Portugal Under-21 international became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer with his strike in a 4-3 defeat to Porto.

While he was deployed on the wing to help both attack and defence under now Manchester United boss Amorim, he has moved into a more offensive role in a front three under Sporting’s new head coach.

“He is a very complete player, a very put together player,” Fernandes added. “He has the mentality that he always has to go back and help the team to defend. He doesn’t stay up front.

“I think the right word to describe Quenda is he is a very brave player.

“He never turns his face away from the challenge, whether that is offensively in the way that he always attacks the opposition team, or whether defensively in the way he always helps his own team defend.

“His main strength is one on one challenges. He is really strong on the duels with the ball at his feet. It is very rare for a defender here in Portugal to stop Quenda in a duel or one on one challenge.”