40. Renato Veiga

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

 

 

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

I’d imagine his signing spells the end of Badiashile here.

I know people are saying he can play LB or in midfield but cannot see us willingly shifting Cucurella given his excellent performances for Spain or even Chilwell given his seniority in the dressing room.

Badiashile also has apparent interest from Italy. Juventus in particular.

Edited July 10 by OneMoSalah

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

 

[YorkshireBlue 3,122]

"70% of the earth is covered in water, the rest is covered by kante" - Renato Veiga

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

 

[bluesman2610 1,341]

 

[Vesper 28,800]

Chelsea new boy Renato Veiga: ‘Elite’ potential, confident and focused on football

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5658013/2024/07/27/renato-veiga-Chelsea-profile/

Three years ago, Sporting Lisbon’s B-team coach Filipe Celikkaya sat down with Renato Veiga for the first of several conversations about the teenager’s development.

“Renato was a player we identified as someone who could grow to the elite level,” Celikkaya tells The Athletic. “We told him he had the potential to play for a Champions League club.”

Celikkaya and his staff laid out a roadmap for the now-20-year-old to work towards that target. As well as exposing Veiga early to competitive football against men (Sporting B play in Portugal’s third tier), they implemented a clear positional framework influenced by the modern game’s tactical evolution.

“We proposed a methodology for him with the ball and without the ball, so he could work in two different positions: No 6 and centre-back,” Celikkaya explains. “In my team, he played in those two positions. He has a lot of versatility in the game. He’s like a hybrid who can play different positions at a high level.”

It is this tactical versatility, coupled with Veiga’s intriguing blend of physical and technical attributes — he is fast and strong in his 6ft 3in (190cm) frame, with an assured left foot and expansive passing range — that prompted Chelsea to agree a deal worth €14million (£11.8m; $15.2m) to sign him from Swiss club Basel this month.

Chelsea believe that as well as providing another option in central midfield and defence, Veiga’s skill set makes him a prime candidate to be deployed as an inverted full-back in their new head coach Enzo Maresca’s system. He has been listed in the club’s squad for their ongoing pre-season tour in the United States as a defender, the position where he has won his seven Portugal Under-21 caps, but played most of his minutes for Basel last season at the base of midfield.

A player who turns 21 on Monday remains a relatively raw prospect, though, with work to do on and off the pitch — a reality underlined by the unusual career path that has now brought him to Stamford Bridge.

---

Confidence has never been an issue for Veiga.

Son of former Cape Verde international defender Nelson Veiga, he was first taken to a football stadium at three weeks old. Renato Veiga has always felt at home with a ball at his feet. In his unveiling interview with Chelsea, he cited his father as his biggest inspiration. “I just wanted to be like him,” he said.

Celikkaya quickly identified Veiga junior as a natural choice to captain Sporting B. “He was the ‘octopus’ of the team, to share my information on the pitch,” he explains. “He was one of the oldest in the locker room, because our B team was very young.” The tall teenager demanded the ball, directed his team-mates’ movements and let them know if standards were slipping.

The serious intensity that would later mark him out, for better and worse, was evident. “‘We don’t come here to play around. We come here to win, to be the best’. That is his mentality,” Celikkaya says of Veiga. “He’s very concentrated, very competitive in training, competitive in games. But a humble person, a fantastic kid. We had a very good relationship because of that.”

Veiga’s ironclad self-belief underpinned his decision to jump at the opportunity to join Augsburg on a 12-month loan deal in January last year, swapping B-team football for a relegation battle in Germany’s Bundesliga. He made 13 appearances in the second half of that 2022-23 season but only seven starts as Augsburg survived by one point, and fell foul of coach Enrico Maassen over his timekeeping.

In August, days before their first league match of the new season, Augsburg announced the loan had been terminated early by mutual decision. “My conscience is clear,” Veiga insisted when asked what had gone wrong for him in Bavaria during an interview with bz Basel, a Swiss newspaper, shortly after joining Basel from Sporting for €4.6million a couple of weeks later.

Celine Feller, the journalist who conducted that interview, has reported on Basel for nine years. She recalls being wowed by Veiga’s debut: a dominating individual midfield display in a 2-2 draw with Zurich on September 3, punctuated by a long-range free kick whipped into the top corner to halve a two-goal deficit.

“His body language was immense, you really felt his presence, you saw how he tries to tell everybody where to go, he always asks for the ball,” Feller tells The Athletic. “He also scored a sensational goal. But that was his best game — he never played that well again.”

Veiga’s timing was unfortunate. Basel, 20 times champions of Switzerland, went on to suffer their worst league campaign this century, finishing eighth in the 12-club Swiss Super League. He played under three different coaches, with Timo Schultz sacked in late September and Fabio Celestini appointed one month later, following an interim stint by Heiko Vogel.

As the team’s league position declined, Veiga’s demeanour dropped with it. “He was still quite dominant, demanding, loud on the pitch, but the more games he played, it became more about him than the team,” Feller says. “His body language got worse, he wasn’t positive, and he didn’t play that well anymore. He was complaining at team-mates, at the coach, at the referee — everybody.”

Veiga remained a regular starter at the heart of midfield alongside Taulant Xhaka — elder brother of Bayer Leverkusen’s former Arsenal captain Granit — under Celestini, who offered a measured assessment of the Portuguese prospect’s performances in public. “Renato sometimes has a little too much energy,” he said. “Some of his game is still not efficient enough, so he needs to develop. He is always motivated and willing to learn. I’ve never seen him in training without enthusiasm.”

Celestini was less forgiving when Veiga and team-mate Thierno Barry were late joining the squad before a Swiss Cup quarter-final against Lugano in February.

Both players were dropped to the bench, though Veiga was brought on at half-time with his team 2-0 down. His first act was to shoot from the halfway line. Two late goals from Barry, also on for the start of the second half, took the tie to a penalty shootout, which Basel lost despite Veiga converting its opening spot kick with a nonchalant Panenka chip down the centre of the goal.

The final two months of Veiga’s season were marred by an ankle sprain, diagnosed by Basel’s medical team after a match against Zurich in late March and confirmed by doctors back home in Portugal.

GO DEEPER

The end has come for Chalobah at Chelsea - this was just one battle too many

Transfer interest in him this summer was anticipated and encouraged; Basel’s owner David Degen voiced his confidence shortly after Veiga was signed from Sporting that he would be sold for a significant profit.

“Nobody expected that he would leave for a club like Chelsea so early, but nobody is sad,” Feller says. “Not the club, not the fans. It’s just seen as good business to let him go.”

---

Veiga’s talent is real. So too is his determination to maximise it: he is very religious, and admits he has few interests outside football and his family. “His team-mates (at Basel) say he has no hobbies,” Feller adds. “He trains, goes home, goes to the gym, sleeps. For him, it’s football, football, football.”

His focus on self-improvement extends beyond his play.

Veiga wears an Oura ring that tracks his calorie intake, sleep quality, heart rate and body temperature. The data is sent to his phone, where he can analyse it to ensure he always has an “optimal” day.

Adapting to life in England should not present as many challenges as might be expected for a young footballer. Veiga’s childhood followed the path of his father’s playing career, taking him to live in Cyprus for four years and Morocco for three. He is fluent in five languages: Portuguese, Spanish, English, French and Arabic. Most of his new team-mates will be able to talk to him in their native tongues.

Making the leap to the strongest domestic league in the world from playing in Switzerland will be more daunting. It is not yet clear whether Veiga will be in Chelsea’s first-team squad this season or sent on loan. The fact he was the only unused outfield substitute in Maresca’s first match as their head coach, the friendly against Wrexham in California on Wednesday (early Thursday UK time) was a further indication his development could be a slow burn.

“Chelsea need to help him on a daily basis so he can improve, because the Swiss League is one thing and the Premier League is another,” Celikayya warns. “You cannot sleep, because everyone wants your position.”

The good news for Veiga is that he’s versatile enough to mean his position is flexible.

“A guy like him: tall, knows how to play with his head and feet, aggressive, knows how to build up, who has a lot of characteristics to play at a high level,” Celikkaya says. “The game is evolving for that.”

GO DEEPER

What we learned from Maresca's 'first day' at Chelsea (and what we didn't)

[Vytis33 1,144]

Like what I’ve seen so far from this kid 

 

 

[whats happening 1,525]

he looks older than thiago silva

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

22 hours ago, whats happening said:

he looks older than thiago silva

This is probably clownlakes idea of an experienced player lol

tbf he has looked quite decent and mature. He knows exactly how to play that inverted LB. Strong, quick, makes no fuss, keeps it simple. Not perfect today with a lot going through his side but had little help from mudryk and Badi 

 

[Special Juan 27,424]

Said nice things in his presser because he knows he is one lucky fucker to be here, absolute bag average footballer.

[Vesper 28,800]

2 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Said nice things in his presser because he knows he is one lucky fucker to be here, absolute bag average footballer.

disagree

[ChrissWTF 10]

top top player !!!

[Vesper 28,800]

delete

Edited August 30 by Vesper

[Vesper 28,800]

Peter Crouch raves about ‘fantastic’ £12m Chelsea player after his display vs Gent

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/match-coverage/peter-crouch-raves-about-fantastic-12m-Chelsea-player-after-his-display-vs-gent/

 

Peter Crouch singled out one Chelsea player for big praise after Thursday night’s win in Europe against Gent.

Chelsea are up and running in the Conference League group stages with a 4-2 victory tonight at home to Gent.

Enzo Maresca displayed the strength in depth within the Blues squad by making 11 changes to the starting line-up. Despite the alterations, it was another eye-catching result from Chelsea to make it five consecutive wins for the club across all competitions.

Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were all on the scoresheet for the hosts at Stamford Bridge. Journalist Simon Johnson claimed via X that Maresca celebrated the most when Dewsbury-Hall scored, which is no surprise given the pair’s time together at Leicester City last season.

• READ MORE: Five things we learned from Chelsea’s 4-2 victory against Gent
•  
• Peter Crouch impressed by Renato Veiga

• Peter Crouch really liked the individual display from Chelsea’s Renato Veiga in midweek versus Gent. The 21-year-old left-back put in another commanding performance both on and off the ball. In particular, he scored his first goal for the club with a brilliant header in the 12th minute. “I haven’t seen a great deal of him (Veiga), but Joe Cole was telling me what a good player he was. I saw it tonight,” Crouch said on TNT Sports 1 (10:17pm, 3 October).

• “I thought he was fantastic, another fantastic player to have in the squad. A player who looked like he was enjoying himself and playing with a smile on his face.  “He finds himself in a lot of space [for his goal]… It was a fantastic header.”

• A new cult hero is born

  It’s pretty obvious to us that Veiga is quite quickly become a real favourite with Chelsea supporters during his debut season in English football. The £12m summer signing (BBC) is putting in some excellent performances to win over the fanbase.

  Veiga got a goal and assist against Gent as he was rewarded for the attacking intent he shows. We equally enjoy just how aggressive he is in his defensive work, too. The Portugal international is turning out to be the ideal cover for Marc Cucurella at left-back, but he’s also shown he can cover in midfield or central defence is needed as well. At the age of 21, Chelsea have pulled off a genius transfer with Veiga in the most recent window.

•  

Edited October 4 by Vesper

[Vesper 28,800]

Why Renato Veiga is becoming that Chelsea rarity – a bargain buy

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5817021/2024/10/04/renato-veiga-Chelsea-bargain/

The words ‘Chelsea’ and ‘bargain signing’ have rarely been used together in the mainstream since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium bought the club in May 2022.

When you have spent well over £1billion ($1.3bn) on new players in just over two years, praise for doing good business can be in rather short supply, particularly without any silverware or Champions League football to show for it.

But look beyond some of the more mean-spirited hyperbole and there have been some transfers delivering great value for money. The first name on everyone’s lips will be Cole Palmer’s switch from Manchester City for £40million (plus £2.5m in add-ons), but Malo Gusto (£26.3m plus add-ons), Nicolas Jackson (£29.5m) and Noni Madueke (£28.5m) are all impressive purchases from 2023. All four are currently first-choice players under head coach Enzo Maresca.

If Jadon Sancho — who joined on a season-long loan on deadline day in August from Manchester United with an obligation to buy next year worth £20m to £25m — continues his fine start to life at Stamford Bridge, then he will be another.

But it is someone with a much lower profile who is also beginning to become a firm favourite with the crowd and the coaching staff. Renato Veiga has not quite established himself as a member of Maresca’s ‘A team’ just yet, but he has become the Italian’s most surprising trusted squad player.

Veiga’s arrival barely caused a stir when Chelsea acquired the Portugal Under-21 international (who was called up to Portugal’s senior squad on Friday) from FC Basel for just £11.8m in July. He is one of the consortium’s cheapest buys, coming in at more than £100m less than the club record fee paid out for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo (£115m).

But after 10 games in all competitions, Veiga has made just as many appearances for Chelsea (8) as Caicedo has. Naturally, the latter has been picked more in the most important of them — the Premier League — but the fact Veiga has been left unused in just two fixtures so far is noteworthy in itself.

More significant though is the minutes tally. As this table using figures compiled by Transfermarkt shows, Veiga (487) has accrued the eighth-highest amount of game time on the pitch from all the players at Maresca’s disposal. He is ahead of some big names including Pedro Neto (440), Christopher Nkunku (421) and Joao Felix (274), who do not even make the top 10.

Granted, the majority of his minutes have come in starts against minor opposition in Servette (twice), Barrow and Thursday night’s opponents Gent, but Maresca is not shy to use him off the bench in the Premier League. And when Enzo Fernandez, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (both unwell) and Romeo Lavia (hamstring) were all unavailable to face Bournemouth in the 1-0 league victory last month, Veiga played the full 90 in central midfield.

Chelsea made a move for Veiga because they like his adaptability. He is taller and a lot cheaper than Riccardo Calafiori, a player they were linked with during the close season but who moved to rivals Arsenal for up to £42m.

For the most part, he has operated on the left side of defence and is a major reason why England international Ben Chilwell is barely seeing any action. Against a Gent side that sat very deep and relied on the counter-attack, he got forward a lot more and was rewarded with his first Chelsea goal, heading home Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross smartly into the corner.

Maresca confirmed to The Athletic afterwards that it was a deliberate ploy to push him up the pitch and could barely stop smiling as he explained why he is using Veiga so much. Maresca said: “He is tall, he is big. Tonight he played like an attacking midfielder, in the pocket for the first time of the season for us. He did very well. You never imagine Renato arriving in the box and scoring from the other side. That means he is doing well.

“When we needed him as a holding midfielder against Bournemouth, he was there. The other day against Brighton as a full-back. He is versatile.”

A few of the match statistics compiled by Opta provide an indication of what a good all-round game he had in Thursday’s 4-2 victory. No Chelsea player made more passes into the final third (14) and one of the main beneficiaries was Mudryk, who played ahead of him on the left flank. Veiga also had the most defensive actions (7), tied for most duels won (6) and the best expected assists (xA) output of any player in the game (0.33). Only Mudryk, Joao Felix and Neto had more touches (from both teams) than his five in the opposition penalty area.

It is early days, but what makes Veiga’s story such an enjoyable one is that no one is more pleasantly surprised than he is about how well things are going. When he gave his first interview to the media during the pre-season tour of the USA, he was asked by The Athletic whether he knew what the club’s plan for him was, whether he was bought to help Chelsea this season or was being sent on loan to develop.

“We will see at the end of pre-season or after the market closes (what happens),” he replied. “I feel the trust from the manager and my colleagues. I just want to do my best and we will see.”

Veiga went on to explain that he could not turn a transfer to Chelsea down because he sees them as ‘the biggest club in England’ and emphasised just how happy he is to be there. Anyone who saw him celebrate Nkunku’s late winner at Bournemouth (where he was booked for jumping in with the away fans to celebrate) or his goal versus Gent can see that.

The most encouraging thing for Chelsea and Veiga is this is just the beginning and there should be a lot more to come. And as that happens, more and more people will begin to recognise that Chelsea have got themselves a bit of a steal.

[Vesper 28,800]

€14m Chelsea transfer can make major step forward next week after today’s breaking news

https://Chelsea.news/2024/10/e14m-Chelsea-transfer-can-make-major-step-forward-next-week-after-todays-breaking-news/

Chelsea are on a roll. They’re scoring goals, winning games and doing well. That means there’s plenty of praise to go around – we’ve seen Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer and various other players given their moment in the sun at different times in the last few weeks.

Last night it looked to be Renato Veiga’s turn. The left back scored the opening goal of the 4-2 win over Gent which brought things into focus, but the praise he got was really more of a holistic appreciation for his progress since joining the club than just for a good game and a good header last night.

Today we hear the news that he’s been called up to the senior Portugal squad. That’s his second callup to the senior squad, having also attended the camp in September. Veiga didn’t get on the pitch in either of those two games, and will be hoping to go one better this time around.

A major chance to continue upwards trajectory

It would be a just reward for a good start to the season. As recently as last season he would have felt pretty distance from the senior team, playing at Basel without much hype. But as we see so often, a move to a top team brings you into the spotlight, and now Roberto Martinez seems to be paying more and more attention.

This break gives him a nice opportunity to bed in further with the national team, and also potentially to make his full debut. The same versatility that is helping him get regular appearances for us should also help his chances of minutes for the national team.

The €14m we paid is starting to look like a bargain, and will look even better once he’s got a full cap from his country.

Edited October 5 by Vesper