Chelsea have already started to make additions to their squad ahead of next season, with Dario Essugo set to join in the summer from CP Sporting and Geovany Quenda also signed from the Portuguese outfit, set to join the club in 2026.
Estevao and Kendry Paez will also arrive in the summer months having been purchased by Chelsea before they turned 18, meaning they both had to wait to join up with the London club, staying at their respective sides to continue their development.
The Blues will also have a fair few arrivals this summer returning from their respective loans, with a handful of players expected to play a part in Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad next season.
Chelsea's returning loan stars
Andrey Santos is one player currently thriving on loan with Strasbourg, Chelsea’s sister club, who find themselves fourth in Ligue 1.
The 20-year-old Brazilian has made 28 appearances for the French outfit this season, scoring ten goals and providing three assists, In the process, he was described by manager Liam Rosenior as “the best midfielder in the league”.
It’s safe to say he’s ready to come back to the Bridge and make an instant impact, but he’s not the only one.
Djorde Petrovic is another Chelsea star who’s ready to come back and impact an impact.
Like Santos, he is currently on loan with the in-form Strasbourg, with the 25-year-old shot-stopper making 25 appearances this season, conceding 29 goals and keeping nine clean sheets across 2,250 minutes played.
While they should play a big part in any success Maresca’s side has next season, they’re not the only two who will come back and hope to go straight into the first team.
Chelsea's next Carvalho is thriving
Cast your mind back to the days of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and you’ll remember Didier Drogba thumping in the goals, John Terry monstrously brushing strikers aside and Ricardo Carvalho cooly and classily playing out from the back.
While Drogba and Terry will go down as icons, Carvalho went about his career as a rather underrated figure. Coincidentally, they may now have their next version of the Portuguese centre-back in Renato Veiga.
Chelsea signed Veiga from Basel in the summer transfer window, with the 21-year-old joining for a fee of around £11.8m. Since then, he played a bit-part role in the Chelsea squad, making 18 appearances for the Blues between joining and January.
He then made a surprise loan move to Juventus in the January transfer window where like the aforementioned Petrovic and Santos, he has shone.
Since arriving in Italy, Veiga has started as a central defender, making eight appearances for Juventus, keeping two clean sheets and totaling 611 minutes played. The Portuguese defender saw the opportunity to play as a central defender as more beneficial ahead of the 2026 World Cup having recently broken into the Portugal side as a centre-back.
So, what qualities does he bring? Well, when comparing the underlying metrics of Viega and Levi Colwill this season, you can see how both players thrive as a progressive orchestrator in the back line, looking to progress play with their passing quality and use their defensive qualities to keep things tight.
Goals + Assists
0.14
0.06
Progressive Carries
1.36
0.36
Progressive Passes
3.98
3.89
Pass Completion %
87.2%
89.6%
Passes into Final Third
4.20
4.61
Tackles
2.05
1.21
Blocks
1.48
1.07
Interceptions
1.25
1.01
Ball Recoveries
3.75
3.25
Aerial Duels Won
1.82
2.46
Described as a “Swiss army knife” defender by scout Jacek Kulig due to his ability to play as a centre-back, a left-back, a defensive midfielder and even an attacking midfielder under Maresca at Chelsea, the future looks bright.
While Carvalho wasn’t a versatile player, featuring for his entire career in a central position, the two players in question here do share a key attribute; the ability to progress the ball and remain composed under pressure.
Coincidentally, Chelsea previously had a Portuguese and English centre-back pairing of Carvalho and Terry which was very successful. Could Viega and Colwill provide a similar dynamic in the future, becoming Chelsea’s next legendary defensive duo? Time will tell.
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