40. Renato Veiga

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Jason Cundy claims Chelsea player barely anybody knows is a ‘monster’

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/jason-cundy-claims-Chelsea-player-barely-anybody-knows-is-a-monster/

Jason Cundy has delivered some very high praise on a Chelsea first-team player who’s impressed him so far this season.

When you go down the list of individuals in the Chelsea squad this campaign, you can put a big tick by several players when it comes to their performances.

Enzo Maresca, the Blues head coach, deserves big credit for the way he’s impacted things since his appointment in the summer. In particular, he’s rotated his team superbly well across the league and various cup competitions to keep so many personnel involved.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano reported that Chelsea’s players are delighted with the work under Maresca, something that is showing on the pitch.

READ MORE: Paul Merson tells Enzo Maresca one thing has ‘got to change’ at Chelsea

Jason Cundy hails Renato Veiga

TalkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy thinks Chelsea made a great signing in the summer with the addition of Renato Veiga.

The versatile youngster joined the Blues in a £12m deal (BBC) from Basel, which is already looking like a smart piece of business because he’s getting regular senior minutes.

Cundy doesn’t think many people are aware yet of the Blues powerhouse, but he really likes what he’s seen from him so far.

He told talkSPORT: “There’s players like Veiga who’ve come in. No one knows Veiga. This boy’s 21 years of age. He’s a monster in the midfield. He can play left-back. It’s starting to look like the money Chelsea has spent-everyone laughs at a billion pounds-actually some of it is starting to look good value.”

Renato Veiga an incredible signing

Veiga, who earns £25,000-a-week (Spotrac), is quickly becoming a fan favourite around Stamford Bridge.

The Portugal international has played in eight of Chelsea’s 10 games across all competitions this season, starting five times. It’s certainly a lot more than most people would’ve predicted before a ball was kicked.

In general, Veiga is acting in the squad as cover to Marc Cucurella in the left-back position. However, we’ve seen he’s also got the versatility to play in midfield or even as a central defender.

The 21-year-old talent scored his first Chelsea goal with a bullet header in Thursday night’s win over Gent in the Conference League. As well as being a physically imposing figure in defence, he’s smart and technically sound with the ball at his feet in any area on the pitch.

 

Edited October 6 by Vesper

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Has looked not bad so far (albeit against much lesser teams) but throwing the term bargain & fans favourite around after 10 games is premature. But at the same time, no reason why he cannot be considered a bargain if he can continue pushing on as the fee was relatively low. 

Against Gent who sat back and wanted to counter, still felt Chilwell as an attacking left back would of made more sense but I guess the other facets of Veiga’s game, ie his tenacity, height and versatility is going to be more useful. Scoring a goal is going to inevitably make people get excited. 

 

Edited October 6 by OneMoSalah

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He made his full debut for Portugal last night. He started alongside Dias, which was a big call from Martinez considering he left the likes of Inácio out and Antonio Silva was left on the bench and he was up against Lewandowski. Seems Martinez and fans were very impressed by his performance too 👍

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Roberto Martinez explains why he loved ‘incredible’ Renato Veiga’s performance for Portugal

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/roberto-martinez-explains-why-he-loved-incredible-renato-veigas-performance-for-portugal/

It is fair to say that Roberto Martinez was impressed with Chelsea star Renato Veiga in Portugal’s 3-1 win against Poland on Saturday.

Roberto Martinez handed Renato Veiga his first Portugal cap after starting the 21-year-old in central defence.

Pedro Neto also started the game, while Joao Felix was named as a substitute, so it was a match that Chelsea fans took a keen interest in.

Many Chelsea supporters liked what they saw from Veiga, who is likely to start the Blues’ next game following Marc Cucurella’s suspension.

Roberto Martinez praises Chelsea defender Renato Veiga

In Robert Lewandowski, Veiga went up against one of the best centre-forwards in the world.

It is not an easy challenge, but Martinez thinks Veiga coped well and loved how focused and aggressive he was against the Barcelona centre-forward.

Speaking to A Bola after the game, the 51-year-old said: “I’m very satisfied because he didn’t play like a young player, he showed an incredible maturity. Good connection with Ruben Dias and Nuno Mendes. And it was demanding to play against Poland and against Lewandowski.

“He was focused and aggressive, he won all the duels, he is very strong in the air. I really liked his performance. I’m happy, but not surprised. We saw his potential during the September internship, now we saw that he was prepared.

“Renato’s debut shows the potential he has and presents a different profile from what we had. We are talking about a game against one of the best players in modern football [Lewandowski].”

While Veiga played in central defence for Portugal on Saturday, he has started one game in midfield in the Premier League this season. And former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy thinks Veiga is a “monster” there.

Renato Veiga and Pedro Neto squad players for Chelsea at the moment

Veiga and Neto both started for Portugal against Poland, while the former will probably be named in Enzo Maresca‘s first XI next weekend.

However, at Chelsea, the two Portugal internationals are squad players right now despite the latter costing the club over £50m in the summer.

So far this season, Maresca has preferred Cucurella and Noni Madueke over Veiga and Neto. Madueke has scored four goals in six Premier League games, including a hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

There are a lot of games left in this campaign, though, so Veiga and Neto should still get plenty of opportunities. With his versatility, Veiga is almost certain to, with the former Basel man eyeing a starting spot for the Liverpool game.

He is above Ben Chilwell in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge so should get the nod at Anfield next Sunday.

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“A gem that was hidden” – Outlet reviews surprise new Chelsea signing after latest game

https://Chelsea.news/2024/10/a-gem-that-was-hidden-outlet-reviews-surprise-new-Chelsea-signing-after-latest-game/

One outlet has been raving about one of Chelsea’s new signings from the summer after he played his latest match for his national side over the weekend.

Chelsea have signed a lot of players recently, some have been real hits, others not so much. But on the whole, the new signings are seemingly doing very well at the moment and there have been a few real gems picked up by the Chelsea scouts.

Renato Veiga seems to be one of those, and a lot like Malo Gusto, he seems to be one of those signings that nobody really knew too much about until they came to Chelsea. They were not household names at all, but Chelsea scouted them and took a risk on them.

Like Gusto, it looks like the Veiga risk might be paying off.

Veiga shines for Portugal

He started as a centre back for Portugal against Poland on Saturday and was on the winning side after they beat the Polish 3-1 away from home.

And Spanish outlet AS, as cited on X, have been raving about Veiga.

They wrote:

“A gem that was hidden in the Swiss league after leaving Sporting almost through the back door. Enzo Maresca and Roberto Martínez didn’t let him get away.

“He’s the new idol of Portugal and Chelsea. The €14m paid to Basel is beginning to look cheap. Veiga passed the exam with flying colours. His good touch (very close to perfection in passing) and powerful shot make him very complete for his age. And with a privileged physique.”

It’s certainly some words of praise. Veiga has started well at Chelsea this season and the fact he can play well in many different positions seems to be a massive bonus as well.

He will be looking to grow his game time and development over this season.