Chelsea have, yet again, made another swoop for young players.

In what feels like a deliberate doubling down on the youth centred model, Chelsea have spent around 70M on two ‘exciting’ young talents.

Though the benefits of these moves could prove excellent long term, it is again yet another gamble that does not cement Chelsea as a top level team. 

It’s a controversial move, and again, one that is further splitting an already divided Chelsea fanbase. 

I will be mostly distancing myself from the data behind these moves, in this instance, and focus more on the squad building and ‘cultural’ impacts of it. 

Unfortunately, the club is taking a worrying direction.

One in which I fear preconceptions and agendas are far more important than actual sporting performance.

Geovany Quenda Analysis

Quenda is a top young talent. Much like most signings, there is little doubt in the sense that Chelsea have yet again bought a top young talent.

Quenda is also a player in high demand, highly rated by Amorim at Manchester United and also Bayern Munich.

He is fast, gets off shots, finds separation well, works really hard and has that grit and engine Chelsea have been left wanting for a while now.

Generally, there isn’t much else to say other than that. 

The question, that most people are still asking is: Do we actually need him?

For once I would wager that the answer is potentially yes. 

Effectively, I would see this as a pivot away from Garnacho especially seeing the club briefs seem to be pitching him as a left winger. 

He is also a profile that is effectively the opposite of Sancho, much like Garnacho and someone that makes things happen and shoots. 

I guess the only difference between this move and the Garnacho one is the lower fee and less chaos involved in the personality of the player. 

I would’ve said a couple months ago that a potential move for another winger was a waste of time and money.

However, with the injuries to Madueke, the suspension of Mudryk for what I’d expect to be a pretty long time from what I’ve heard, and the downturn in form of Palmer and the injury of Jackson, this has highlighted that this team severely lacks people that do things on the football pitch. 

This isn’t to say Sancho, Nkunku and Neto are bad players – they’re currently just being asked to do things they’ve historically never done and more importantly, simply can’t do well. 

I’ve spoken about this before, but as a reminder, every front line needs at least 1/2 sources of goals and if not goals shots.

Currently, Chelsea have Sancho (who just recycles the ball), Neto (who only really works if he’s running into open space or crossing into a box dominant striker) and Nkunku (who only thrives in close proximity to other players and playing off a striker).

So you can see why we can’t score a goal. I do think there’s an element of bad luck and frankly irony in the sense that the Garnacho move was lauded to be an awful one, only for Chelsea to be struck by countless injuries and now to be left with a need for someone that does what Garnacho does. 

Quenda to me seems like a less risky version of Garnacho. 

The interesting thing here, however, is Quenda is joining in the 2026/27 season and Chelsea intend to have 5 wingers for both flanks.

Currently, Chelsea have:

• Sancho
• Neto
• Madueke
• Mudryk

However, not only is this four, but Mudryk is also likely to not be available next season as it stands.

This is somewhat mitigated by Estevao’s arrival, though he’s being described as a central player by himself and his agent.

This would imply that Chelsea would be going for two wingers. I’m relatively unsure what the plan actually is these days.

Sancho and Neto are new signings. There’s a lack of clarity on whether Sancho will actually stay. If he doesn’t, we have two wingers. So are we buying three? Unclear. 

IF we are, who would we even buy?

I think what will likely happen is Chelsea would buy another winger this summer to join Sancho, Neto, Madueke and Estevao (who will likely cover on the wings when needed).

Then, Quenda would join in 2026 to allow Estevao to play on the inside. 

It’s unclear whether Mudryk is in Chelsea’s ‘five winger’ target, and if he isn’t, who we’d buy. 

Current targets point towards Semenyo and Lookman, also profiles of players that shoot and do things. 

With all of this considered, it’s good to see Chelsea have correctly identified the need for a profile like Quenda and Garnacho.

It’s less good to see they’ve stuck by their approach of achieving this through the purchase of young, unproven players. But overall, it’s good to see. 

I think this does cement the end of Felix and Nkunku’s time at Chelsea however, with neither likely to bench Palmer in the 10 position and both obviously wanting more consistent game time than substitute appearances and UEFA Conference League minutes.

As for Carney Chukwuemeka, who knows anymore. One minute the club want to keep him, the next they don’t.

Then they refuse a buy option in a loan, then they want to force the other team to have one. 

I’m not massively convinced they know what to do with him, especially considering he too is a top top talent that could provide great 10 cover whilst also not demanding massive wages and game time.

If he, Nkunku and Felix were to all leave that would then, funnily enough, leave Chelsea with just a single central player.

This is a somewhat hilarious situation to be in, especially when just a few months ago Chelsea had four players for that single position with not enough minutes to share between them.

Obviously, Kendry Paez is also joining Chelsea soon though again I am unsure what is going on when he is now being lauded to be an 8 and the plan is apparently to share minutes with Enzo Fernandez (this gets even more interesting with the addition of Essugo, just wait for this upcoming section). 

Overall, Quenda is a bright move with top potential and a high ceiling and can definitely help the squad.

He’s versatile, I even see him playing wing-back if needed and he can provide another tactical option as well as a squad balance one in making things happen through work rate and grit.

He takes shots, which is something we desperately need when some players are unavailable.

Dario Essugo Analysis

Dario Essugo. Where do I start…. 

Again, top talent. I have little doubt, again, that given time and a good environment Essugo will become a top player.

He’s expected to join and be an understudy to Moises Caicedo, which makes sense considering he is eerily reminiscent of him.

Great in first phase build up and does a lot of nice defensive work.

I’d say the only difference between the two is that Essugo probably covers a lot more ground than Caicedo and has a much greater engine whilst sacrificing abilities on the ball slightly. 

I do think that both, still, suffer a bit from a tiny bit of recklessness.

Essugo does seem a bit rash at times, much like Caicedo, but eventually I see this maturing into top ball winning and ground coverage. He has two red cards in his last five league games for Las Palmas.

I won’t go into too much detail about the charts above, just make of them what you will. 

AGAIN, however, I have questions over the squad planning element of this team. 

How many midfielders we will have is becoming a mythical paradigm of madness. 

I find it astonishing that Chelsea could end up with:

• Lavia
• Enzo Fernandez
• Caicedo
• Santos
• Ugochukwu
• Paez
• Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
• Amougou
• Essugo

All for 2/3 positions. There is hope that Dewsbury-Hall will be sold in the coming summer and Amougou loaned to Strasbourg,

I question how there would be enough game time for Lavia, Fernandez, Caicedo, Santos, Ugochukwu, Paez and Essugo for 3 positions at most.

I think there’s a reasonable chance Lesley Ugochukwu and Paez could find themselves out on loan, or Paez playing as what was initially the plan as a 10 and Ugochukwu being sold for a profit. 

Apart from the height element, I do feel that Essugo has now filled the hole of a lack of ground coverage and duel winning which is good from a midfield and team balance perspective.

I just hope that Lesley is not massively impacted by the deal as I highly rate him as a player. 

Conclusion on the deals

I think both are ‘smart’ moves, especially if they fulfill their potentials and show their talents.

They cover squad profile holes and could potentially elevate the squad into making it more complete.

They are definitely exciting moves, but they also come with great risk – as has the entire project so far.

I just hope luck is in Chelsea’s favour, and everything comes together to create great long sustainable success at this club.

I do think success is round the corner, I just hope the Chelsea fanbase can unite together long enough that we all see it. 

Where there is great risk, there is great reward.