Geovany Quenda: Meet the new Chelsea winger

When Quenda joined Chelsea he was accompanied by his father, mother, sisters, friends, managers and godfather Basaula Lemba, a former senior Portuguese footballer who also played 10 times for Zaire.

Lemba played a key role in Quenda’s early development before Benfica brought him into their academy system in 2017.

According to former youth coach Fabio Roque, Sporting and Porto were also following him at that time.

“We saw him as an under-10 player playing against us at Benfica,” Roque told BBC Sport.

“We knew from our testing team that he was a good player and we were following his development on the Portuguese Football Federation website.

“He was incredible and different. His discipline wasn’t always perfect and he was still raw, but his attitude was excellent. He was confident, unpredictable, brave and had a great way with the ball.”

There was a “non-aggression pact” between Portugal’s three biggest clubs, Benfica, Sporting and Porto, but after Quenda scored against Sporting in an important match for Benfica, he made a move to Sporting that Roque described as “natural”.

When he changed academy from 2019 onwards, the torture started to work in the other direction.

“I remember a match against Benfica; it was a very important match,” Roque said.

“It was a tough week before Christmas, we had suffered a heavy defeat and our captain was injured.

“Emotions were very high. We sent off a player in the 15th minute of the game. We had to adapt but Geovany and the rest of the team continued to compete, held on at 0-0 and showed the mentality they have.

“Then I remember walking into the dressing room at half-time and Geovany put his hand on my shoulder and said: ‘It’s okay, we’re going to win.’

“That moment gave us all confidence. And we won. The ball came from the corner to Geovany and he calmly sent the ball into the net.

“It was a moment of personality and belief. It showed who Geovany really was. At that moment I thought, ‘This guy is special.'”

Eventually, Quenda was promoted to the under-23s under the management of Tiago Teixeira.

“Everyone talked about him. Everyone said he was one of the most talented players in the academy,” Teixeira told BBC Sport.

“We wanted him to develop step by step, but he could have made his debut earlier.

“I remember one training session where we were working on set pieces and free kicks. We joked that he couldn’t score from a free kick.

“Then he scored four or five goals in a row, smiled and said: ‘Okay, it’s over for me.'”

Although Quenda joins the great ranks of Sporting wingers including Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Nani, his former coach believes he is most similar to Arsenal and England striker Bukayo Saka.

“It’s his explosiveness, his ability to play inside, his ability to protect the ball, his unpredictability and creativity,” Roque said.

“Defensively, Geovany may even be stronger than Saka at this stage. Bukayo is of course already a consistent performer in a highly competitive league. But his running, crossing and final passes remind me of Saka.”

Roque added: “He is one of the most impressive players I have seen. Among the players born in 2007, he is one of the best in the world, along with Lamine Yamal and Estevao. My expectations are very high, but I know this is a long career.”

By the age of 16, Quenda was training with Ruben Amorim’s first-team squad before the manager moved from Sporting to Manchester United, and he was soon breaking records.

The first was when he scored in the 24th minute of his first match against Porto, becoming the youngest player to score in the Portuguese Super Cup.

He later became Sporting’s youngest player to start and score in the Champions League, broke Ronaldo’s record as the youngest goalscorer in Liga Portugal, and became a regular in the first team at the age of 17.

“The bounce is more direct and faster,” Teixeira added. “But I think Quenda can be better playing inside. He’s obviously a once-in-a-decade talent for an academy.”