Chelsea finally complete £40m Geovany Quenda transfer

Quenda, 19, has put pen to paper on an eight-year contract and arrives as Xabi Alonso’s second signing since taking charge, joining Atalanta full-back Marco Palestra, who cost £42m, in west London.

The move was struck as far back as March 2025 under previous boss Enzo Maresca, but Quenda stayed in Lisbon to finish out the season before completing his switch. He is versatile enough to feature as a winger, attacking midfielder or wing-back and is expected to be involved in Alonso’s first-team plans straight away.

On his first day at Cobham, surrounded by family, Quenda took time to speak about the people who have shaped his journey to west London.

“They are the people who have always been by my side, always gave me good advice, always tried to help me, give me good conditions,” he said.

“Having these people here today is a reason to be proud, because they have always been with me, helped me, and obviously for me it is good to have them here with me.”

He also credited two familiar faces from the Portugal squad for helping him settle in – former Sporting academy graduate Dario Essugo, now his Chelsea team-mate, and winger Pedro Neto.

“He told me that things in England are not easy, this league is not easy,” Quenda said of Essugo. “Neto also talked to me when I arrived here, when I came to do my recovery work. And we were together at the national team camp and he talked to me, gave me good advice.”

Asked whether he had always pictured himself playing in England, Quenda didn’t hesitate.

“It is the best league and us players always have the dream of reaching the highest level. So obviously I have dreamed of playing in the Premier League.”

Eden Hazard was the player who first made Chelsea stand out to Quenda as a boy, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leao and Nuno Mendes were his idols coming through Sporting’s academy.

With pre-season now under way, Quenda says he simply wants to contribute. “I have to be ready to help the team and always give my best,” he said. “I am here to be one more player who can help the club.”