Atlético Madrid have reportedly made their interest in Chelsea misfit Renato Veiga abundantly clear, although it remains to be seen if they will meet the London club’s steep asking price.
Veiga only signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2024, completing a £12.1 million ($16.3 million) move from Basel which sparked a ripple of excitement. Barely out of his teenage years, the towering left footer offered a balance of versatility and experience scarcely boasted by a player so young.
Enzo Maresca rarely trusted the 21-year-old with anything more than a cameo appearance in the Premier League, but he started every cup fixture Chelsea contested across the first six months of the 2024–25 campaign. That exposure was not enough for Veiga, who was also thought to be insistent on playing exclusively as a centre-back.
The Blues secured their unhappy asset a mid-season loan for Juventus. Despite rapidly establishing himself as a fixture of the backline in Serie A, Veiga was sent back to west London at the end of the domestic campaign, missing out on both Juve and Chelsea’s squads for the Club World Cup.
Now that the summer tournament has concluded with a Chelsea triumph, talks over Veiga’s future have been reopened. La Liga giants Atlético Madrid have made “direct contact” with the player’s representatives, Fabrizio Romano has claimed. Veiga is described as “keen” on the proposed move, while Chelsea are “prepared” to open negotiations for the right price.
Maresca’s free-spending outfit are thought to be demanding a minimum of £34.6 million ($46.5 million), which would see the club almost triple their investment on Veiga after just 12 months and 18 appearances.
This is the intended consequence of the club’s controversial transfer model. Chelsea are prepared to take a gamble on numerous players with the expectation that they will either retain or increase their value—much like property investors across the U.S. and U.K at the turn of the 21st century before the housing bubble spectacularly burst.
After a busy summer of incomings, Chelsea will need to thin out Maresca’s squad before the new campaign begins. Veiga’s preferred position of centre-back is already chronically oversubscribed. The world champions have nine senior figures for that single position and have already seen multiple fringe players commit their future to Stamford Bridge. That Veiga is willing to leave may very well grease the wheels of his departure.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Receive ‘Direct Approach’ for Wantaway Misfit, Pushing for Huge Profit.