Chelsea Closing In On This Portuguese Midfield Prospect: One For The Future?

If a report from The Sun is believed to be true, Chelsea are closing in on Sporting Lisbon sensation Dário Essugo. They are discussing the financial terms with the Portuguese giants to be in the driver’s seat amid the growing interest in the young midfield prodigy.

The 19-year-old Portugal youth international progressed through the esteemed academy ranks of Sporting before becoming their youngest-ever Primeira Liga debutant in March 2021 at the age of 16. He holds the record of being the youngest Portuguese player to feature in the UEFA Champions League. Essugo also broke Luis Figo’s record when he became the club’s youngest starter a few days before his 17th birthday.

While he made 25 senior appearances for Sporting as a sporadic player, the club loaned him out to fellow top-flight side G.D Chaves last winter. Despite featuring regularly in the middle of the park, Flavienses finished rock-bottom, thus relegating to the second division by the end of the 2023-24 season. Essugo was supposed to be a part of Sporting CP’s reserves for the ongoing campaign, but a season-long loan to Las Palmas has helped him attune to the grind and demands of first-team football in Spain.

The Blues, meanwhile, have spent billions in the transfermarket since Todd Boehly’s takeover. But they have failed to restore stability on the pitch regardless of managerial alterations. They showed signs of improvement under Enzo Maresca, however, a string of below-par performances has not only jeopardized ‘top four’ hopes but also led to an early elimination from the Cup competitions.

Why Chelsea Should Snap Him Up

Chelsea had a midfield overhaul and the likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez have been exquisite in their respective roles. But they also had a few failed recruitments in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Romeo Lavia and  Cesare Casadei. Dewsbury-Hall is struggling for minutes, whereas highly-rated Lavia has hardly featured due to persistent injury problems. Outcast Casadei returned to his homeland and joined Torino on the winter transfer deadline.

Having said that,  Lesley Ugochukwu and Andrey Santos have impressed so far while on loan at Southampton and Strasbourg. 19-year-old Mathis Amougou completed a late transfer from Saint-Étienne for £12.5m, and the young trio could challenge and cover the first-team stars from next season onwards.

The staggering squad depth could limit the Portuguese’s development due to lack of gametime and the player, therefore, would only ply his trade to West London if he belonged to the manager’s plans. Manchester City rejected Chelsea’s approach for Nico O’Reilly not to make the same mistake they did for Palmer, and it remains to be seen whether the Blues succeed in snapping up Essugo in the due course of time.