Geovany Quenda will become a Chelsea player officially next summer after the Blues struck a £40million agreement with Sporting CP earlier in the year for the 18-year-old winger
Not every football story starts in jeans, but in Geovany Quenda’s case, it does.
Quenda – who was not even 10 years old at the time – turned up for his first training session with Portuguese club Damaiense wearing denim jeans. The club did not have his kit ready yet and were reluctant to let Quenda play in his casual gear. Though when a ball came his way and he started dribbling, Damaiense had no choice but to allow the Portuguese to showcase his ability.
Such was the shock of the coaches at the Portuguese club, Quenda ensured his first training session was one they would never forget. It came as no surprise to said coaches that Quenda, now in the Damaiense kit, would establish himself as one of the most promising youngsters in the club’s academy.
Damaiense, though, were resigned to losing Quenda, knowing how big a prospect the youngster was – even at such a young age. At just over the age of 10, Quenda caught the eye of Benfica scouts at a youth tournament and the Portuguese giants had no choice but to bring the winger into their academy system.
Quenda spent around three years working with some of Portugal’s best coaches at Benfica before Sporting CP started to sniff around. Everyone was talking about Quenda back then; an up-and-coming talent recognised by many as Portugal’s next poster boy.
The then 14-year-old was sold some false promises by Benfica and decided to take Sporting up on their keen interest; with the Lisbon-based club having a stellar reputation of helping produce some of the country’s best-ever talent. Cristiano Ronaldo, namely, but also the likes of Luis Figo, Paulo Futre, Nani and Joao Moutinho. The list could go on.
Quenda, and those around him, saw Sporting as the perfect next step for his career – that was really yet to get going given the fact he was only 14. Sporting have shown that with their coaches, methods and facilities, they are able to mould raw young players into world-beaters. And for Quenda, that has always been the goal.
It became quickly apparent that Quenda, having just joined Sporting, was already one of the brightest talents in the academy system. Quenda, a shy boy, relishes pressured environments – and that was even the case back in his junior days. At 16, he was already the top goal scorer for Sporting’s Under-23s team. He was playing beyond his years.
Ruben Amorim, who was Sporting’s manager at the time, called him up to the first-team squad on a couple of occasions when he was just 16. He didn’t make his senior debut until he was 17 years old against Porto. A huge game to throw in an unproven teenager, but such was the reputation and hype around Quenda that it did not matter.
Amorim trusted him. The now Manchester United boss was in close dialogue with those who had worked with Quenda throughout his academy days and decided to take the punt. His faith was repaid, with Quenda becoming the club’s youngest-ever player to score in a competitive first-team match at 17 years and 95 days. Albeit Sporting lost the game 4-3, but Quenda’s path quickly became clear.
An injury to Nuno Santos then gave Quenda an opportunity in the first XI under Amorim. The records followed: Quenda became the youngest player to score in Liga Portugal (overcoming Ronaldo), the youngest player to start in the Champions League for Sporting, and in 2024/25, he became the youngest player at Sporting to score in Europe’s elite competition.
In his breakthrough season with the club, he recorded more assists than Ronaldo, Nani, Figo, Simao Sabrosa and Ricardo Quaresma did during their debut campaigns. So it is no surprise those from around Europe were keeping a close eye on Quenda. Amorim, the man who gave him his chance in Lisbon, was desperate to bring him to Manchester United.
Chelsea, though, had got themselves in a strong position with Quenda and his representatives at the start of 2025. In mid-March, the Blues struck an agreement with Sporting understood to be worth £40million for Quenda to move to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2026. The plan is for Quenda to keep developing – as he is to a vast extent – in Portugal this season before teaming up with Enzo Maresca and the squad in time for the 2026/27 campaign.
football.london understands the club have communicated with Quenda that he will be part of Maresca’s first-team plans in SW6 next season. Some had speculated over a loan move for the Portugal international, who will be 19 by the time he arrives in west London, but Chelsea have plans for him to be in and around the senior squad in 2026/27.
Quenda’s focus right now is on helping Sporting win the Liga Portugal title, with Rui Borges’ men currently three points adrift of leaders Porto after 11 matches. Though behind the scenes, the 18-year-old winger has been taking intensive English lessons to help him adapt quicker when he moves to the UK, and has attended some Chelsea home games to understand how the team plays.
Sources have told football.london that Quenda has been working on improving his physical condition by doing some muscle-strengthening work as he prepares for his move to the Premier League. Quenda is constantly looking at ways he can improve and it comes as no surprise that he has often been analysing his performances via video, while also watching clips of other wingers like Neymar, Lamine Yamal and Ronaldo to try and add to his own game.
Of course, things won’t come easy for Quenda at Chelsea. The Blues already have so much in the way of young attacking talent at the club already. Tyrique George, a product of the club’s celebrated academy, does not appear to have too much of a future at Stamford Bridge. The 19-year-old attacker has appeared just nine times in all competitions this season – and the fact a player of his ability and potential has been nothing more than a bit-part player shows the depth Maresca has at his disposal.
Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens were signed in the summer, meaning the left-hand side could potentially be sorted for years to come from a Chelsea point of view. Estevao Willian is viewed as a generational talent by those inside the club and he has started life in SW6 with relative ease, while Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto are two of Maresca’s most trusted attacking options.
In terms of where Quenda will fit in, the Guinea-Bissau-born teenager is willing to play anywhere across the front line for Chelsea. For Sporting, he has shown he is a versatile option, who can play both as a winger and as a No.10.
Such competition for places will make Quenda’s job more difficult, and he understands that playing with Chelsea comes with enormous responsibility but the challenge does not scare him. While there is an acceptance that succeeding at Chelsea will only come via hard work, the Portuguese star is very confident in becoming one of the world’s very best – his number one goal.
Chelsea’s arsenal of young attacking players keeps getting added to. Some laugh when the Blues sign another teenage talent, but just like we have seen with Estevao in his early days at Stamford Bridge, when it pays off, the west Londoners are the ones having the last laugh. With Quenda, the club are confident they will once again be the last ones laughing.
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