Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign a second Sporting Lisbon star with midfielder Dario Essugo agreeing to a move to Stamford Bridge this summer.
The Blues swooped on Friday to wrap up a deal to sign Geovany Quenda – the highly-rated 17-year-old who Ruben Amorim was desperate to bring to Manchester United.
Chelsea will pay £41million to bring Quenda to west London with the youngster expected to remain in Lisbon on loan next season before joining his new club in the summer of 2026.
Reports in Portugal now claim Chelsea are poised to sign another Sporting youngster in Essugo.
CNN Portugal claim a fee of around £18.5m has been agreed for the 20-year-old central midfielder who will sign a seven-year contract.
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Like Quenda, Essugo has shown promise from a very early age in Portugal.
He became the club’s youngest ever player to feature in a Champions League game in December 2017, beating the record previously held by Luis Figo when he debuted age 16 years and 268 days.
Essugo is currently on a season-long loan with Spanish side Las Palmas, making 17 La Liga appearances this term.
His performances in Spain further enhanced his reputation with Chelsea moving quickly to secure his services.
Chelsea have set about recruiting the best young talent in Europe, adding Saint-Etienne midfielder Mathis Amougou to their squad in January.
The 19-year-old recently made his debut for the Blues off the bench in the 4-0 victory over Southampton.
South American duo Estevao Willian and Kendry Paez are set to link up with the club in the summer with Quenda now set to join them.
Speaking on Friday, Sporting boss Rui Borges would not confirm whether the move to taking his young star to England was a done deal.
‘His growth has been rapid at Sporting, it’s natural that people talk about him to big clubs,’ Borges said.
‘He’s a kid who will have to learn to live with that. The deal that’s being talked about today, I can’t go into that until the club talks about it, because I don’t know.’
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