Chelsea secure wonderkid transfer after long-term contract agreed – Fabrizio Romano

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Suraj Radia | Editor

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Chelsea are in advanced talks for another deal for a young star this summer, with a move in place with Sporting Lisbon for a young winger.

Chelsea have seen a number of players arrive this summer, with the likes of Geovany Quenda and Emmanuel Emegha joining after previous agreements to sign, in addition to the €57 million signing of Marco Palestra, which was finalised last month.

Having seen multiple players also return from loan spells, Chelsea are looking to shrink down their squad and focus on outgoings, with Marc Cucurella and Tyrique George the only two departures so far this summer.

And it appears a breakthrough has been made after Romano confirmed that 19-year-old Jesse Derry is set to join Sporting on loan for the upcoming season after signing a new contract with Chelsea.

Chelsea were believed to have faced interest in clubs who wanted to permanently sign Derry but the teenager has penned a long-term extension with the Blues before moving to Sporting, who will cover his salary and will not have a buy option.

Chelsea reject European interest in Derry and send highly-rated wonderkid on loan

Derry came through the academy of Crystal Palace before joining Chelsea in 2025 and he made three appearances last season, one of which was a Premier League start against Nottingham Forest in May.

The youngster was given a surprise debut against Forest by then interim coach Calum McFarlane, who had worked with Derry in the youth team, however the player was forced off in the second half after suffering a head injury.

Chelsea were believed to have fielded interest from teams such as Bayern Munich to sign Derry this summer but they rate the winger highly and wanted to see how he would fare out on loan.

Romano revealed that the move to Sporting is in part due to the good relationship between them and Chelsea, having seen Quenda and midfielder Dario Essugo join from the Portuguese side in recent times.