Portugal Under-21s head coach Luis Freire was preparing to substitute Geovany Quenda when the ball arrived at the 19-year-old’s ft close to the proper touchline in the 72nd minute.
Quenda dribbled in the direction of his back-pedalling marker till he noticed one other defender shuttling throughout to double up towards him. With a pointy change of path and two fast touches, he evaded the lure earlier than it might be totally set. With two extra, he burst infield, creating sufficient separation to go for aim.
His shot, low and laborious and uncorked with minimal back-lift of his left foot, bounced by means of the hole between the despairing goalkeeper and his close to put up.
It was Quenda’s second of a 4-0 pleasant win over Northern Ireland Under-21s in the Portuguese resort city of Estoril earlier this month. He had began the match enjoying left-winger, the place from where he raced onto a go behind the guests’ defence in the thirty fifth minute and handed the ball coolly below the advancing ’keeper.
Freire ultimately did take him off after 75 extremely productive minutes.
Geovany Quenda runs away to have a good time after scoring towards Northern Ireland Under-21s (Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
The setting and the opposition is not going to precisely go away Chelsea supporters salivating at the prospect of Quenda finishing his €47.5million (£41m; $55m) transfer to Stamford Bridge from Lisbon’s Sporting CP this summer season, however the match motion was welcome; it was solely the second time he has performed for greater than 70 minutes in a irritating however probably formative first half of 2026.
A damaged metatarsal in his proper foot, sustained in early December, sidelined Quenda for 4 months of what he had hoped could be a breakthrough season at senior stage. He couldn’t play, however was removed from idle. In the course of his rehabilitation, he got here to London to start to acclimatise to his future residence and make use of the services and sources at Chelsea’s coaching complicated in Cobham.
Part of that course of concerned Quenda embarking on a rigorous programme of vitamin and muscle growth aimed at higher equipping him to deal with the better diploma of physicality in Premier League soccer with out compromising his velocity or agility. By the time he was able to return to motion in mid-April, common observers remarked on how a lot stronger he appeared.
Quenda’s return couldn’t forestall Porto ending Sporting’s fading hopes for a 3rd consecutive league title. He remained largely an influence substitute for coach Rui Borges behind established wingers Pedro Goncalves and Geny Catamo, although he did begin the second leg of a tense semi-final in the Taca de Portugal (their FA Cup equal) as Sporting eradicated Porto on their very own pitch.
Quenda made an impression at Sporting CP, when fit (Miguel Lemos/AFP through Getty Images)
However, they had been then humiliated 2-1, after further time, by second division facet Torreense in the ultimate. Quenda got here on at the tip of regulation and couldn’t discover the second of inspiration that might have signed off his final match for the membership with yet another trophy, although he did mud off a formidable long-throw method which can intrigue Chelsea’s set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva.
Sources, talking on the situation of anonymity to guard relationships, have instructed The Athletic that the plan is for Quenda to stick with Chelsea’s first-team squad subsequent season somewhat than exit on mortgage to realize expertise. That raises the attention-grabbing query about where precisely he would fit into the tactical ideas of incoming supervisor Xabi Alonso, who may utilise {the teenager}’s versatility in addition to his expertise.
Quenda seems equally snug enjoying left or proper wing, however he made his senior skilled breakthrough for Sporting two years in the past as a surging wing-back below future Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim.
This may enchantment to Alonso if he plans to implement a variation of his spectacularly profitable system from his Bayer Leverkusen days at Chelsea, although it is too early to know definitively how he will select to set the west Londoners up.
Leverkusen’s soccer below the Spaniard was animated by the differing roles and complementary ability units of their wing-backs. Alex Grimaldo was extra of a playmaking, artistic hub barely deeper on the left, whereas Jeremie Frimpong was the speedy risk deployed very excessive on the proper, usually changing into their furthest participant ahead. That pair mixed for 19 objectives and 20 assists as Leverkusen surged to a primary Bundesliga title in 2023-24 with out dropping any of their 34 league video games.
Could an identical dynamic be mirrored at Chelsea?
Reece James has the technical high quality, passing vary and eye for aim on the proper that Grimaldo dropped at the occasion. That would go away Alonso in search of a Frimpong-style athlete to play on the left.
Marc Cucurella could be the pure selection, however he could go away Stamford Bridge this summer season. There’s Pedro Neto, however he would require a point of adaptation if he had been repurposed for the function.
There is no such query about Quenda’s tactical suitability or his athletic capabilities. Those accustomed to his mindset say he is excited to work with Alonso and plans to chop his summer season break brief to report for pre-season coaching just a few days early. His preliminary goals are modest: to soak up the concepts of his new supervisor, to study from his team-mates and commit himself totally to creating a optimistic impression.
Had the 2025-26 season gone to plan, Quenda might even have succeeded in making himself a younger wild-card in the Portugal squad at the World Cup. The absence of such an journey over the subsequent month or so does at least put him in a extra beneficial place to construct some early momentum in coaching at Cobham and throughout Chelsea’s pre-season friendlies in Australia and East Asia.
Benfica’s Antonio Silva tries to examine the risk posed by Quenda in the Lisbon derby (Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP through Getty Images)
July will carry a swift introduction to the extent of squad competitors Quenda will face at Chelsea.
Countryman Neto is the one one of many membership’s established wingers who is at the World Cup.
Estevao is already making optimistic public noises about his restoration from the hamstring harm that ended his hopes of a Brazil squad place whereas Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens ought to each be extremely motivated to impress in their second seasons at the membership. Another flexible attacker capable of going straight into the starting XI may additionally arrive at some level this summer season.
With no European soccer at Stamford Bridge subsequent season after final month’s Tenth-placed end and FA Cup closing defeat, recreation time will likely be a a lot scarcer useful resource than traditional.
That actuality makes Chelsea’s intention to maintain Quenda round extra attention-grabbing, and a subplot price monitoring as soon as Alonso formally begins his work subsequent month.