Chelsea have reached an agreement with Sporting Lisbon to sign Portuguese winger Geovany Quenda ahead of Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Quenda, 17, has been heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford, especially since former Sporting boss Ruben Amorim left the club to take over at United.
Amorim gave the highly-rated teenager his Sporting Lisbon debut and was believed to be keen for a reunion at Manchester United.
It was even reported in January that United were near striking a take care of Quenda, who was open to joining the club.
Nevertheless, Chelsea have hijacked Manchester United’s move and at the moment are set to win the race to sign a player who has been tipped to turn into the most effective in Europe and a star for the Portugal national team.
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Chelsea pays Sporting Lisbon between €45-50m, in keeping with The Athletic, and as a part of the deal Quenda will remain on the Portuguese giants next season before moving to Stamford Bridge in the summertime of 2026.
Quenda has agreed a seven-year contract with the Blues, keeping him in west London until 2033, after undergoing a secret medical in recent days.
The Portugal U21 star is comfortable on either flank and infrequently played with no consideration wing-back under Amorim, though he is predicted to be deployed as a winger by Chelsea.
Quenda could make greater than 50 appearances for Sporting Lisbon this season, having played in ten of their Champions League games.
The player is believed to have held encouraging talks with Enzo Maresca before agreeing to hitch Chelsea ahead of long-term admirers Manchester United.
Ex-Southampton and Portugal defender Jose Fonte spoke highly of Quenda earlier within the yr and backed him to thrive at Old Trafford.
‘Geovany Quenda is just 17 and he has blistering pace,’ he said. ‘He’s very, very quick.
‘He’s one in all those players that when he gets the ball, he runs at you. He doesn’t turn around or play the ball backwards.
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‘He’s so direct and he jogs my memory of how Manchester United played under Sir Alex Ferguson, he’s a little bit of a throwback in that sense and that’s exciting.
‘He gets the ball and desires to make something occur, when he gets the ball in the ultimate third he knows exactly what he desires to do and puts defenders on the back foot so that they find yourself doubling up on him.
‘He’s a really interesting player because he’s still 17 and he has blistering pace and an awesome left-foot, he’s creating havoc here in Portugal and will do the identical with Manchester United.’
Quenda will return to motion for Sporting on Saturday evening against Famalicao, with Rui Borges’ side currently three points clear at the highest of the Primeira Liga.
His future club, Chelsea, visit London rivals Arsenal on Sunday as they give the impression of being to spice up their top-four hopes.
The Blues are aiming to qualify for the Champions League after falling away within the title race, while they’re the short favourites to win the Europa Conference League.
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