Renato Veiga has departed Chelsea for Villarreal as their raised summer funds total hits £250m, and the Portugal star is no stranger to an abrupt exit from a club
Chelsea have now raised over £250million from summer sales as Renato Veiga joins Spanish side Villarreal. His year-long spell at Stamford Bridge isn't the first time his stay at a club has been cut short.
The Blues brought Veiga to west London from Swiss side Basel in July 2024 for a fee of £12m, and he featured scarcely under Enzo Maresca. He made his debut in a 2-0 loss to Manchester City last August, though he was never handed much meaningful game time.
Veiga signed for Juventus on loan in January and played 15 times for them before returning to his parent club. He now leaves Chelsea for £25m, over double what Todd Boehly paid for the 22-year-old just over 12 months ago. While his time in the English capital was short and sweet, he once caused a stir before with a loan move during his Sporting CP days.
Maresca's side have sold 11 first-team players this summer so far, with the likes of Noni Madueke, Joao Felix and Kiernan Dewsbury Hall among their most significant departures. These exits have helped finance moves for Joao Pedro, who was signed from Brighton for £60m in July, as well as helping recruit Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund and Liam Delap from Ipswich Town.
Veiga adds £25m to the club's total transfer income for this summer. But it was for his boyhood club Sporting that he once made headlines for a loan move cut inexplicably short.
The 22-year-old was born in Lisbon and joined Sporting's academy when he was just seven years old. After leaving in 2013, he played for a range of different academies but returned five years later and made rapid progression through their youth ranks.
At 19, having made a handful of appearances for Sporting's B-team, Veiga was offered the opportunity to join German outfit Augsburg on loan in January 2023. This temporary move was supposed to last until the end of December 2023, and all was going well.
He made his debut in February and was given plenty of playing time, appearing in 13 Bundesliga matches. However, in August, after just six months in Germany, his loan was terminated.
This caused some confusion at the time, as Veiga had often featured for Augsburg, and while he hadn't set the world alight, he had just played the full 90 minutes of their last two matches. Rumours of disciplinary issues began to swirl.
Such speculation was never confirmed, but regardless, Veiga was evidently not the right fit for the German side and swiftly headed back to Sporting. "After analysing the first six months of his loan spell, we came to a mutual decision with Renato Veiga to terminate his loan contract," said Stefan Reuter, Augsburg's managing director for sports in 2023.
"We would like to thank him for his dedication to the club and wish him all the best for his future." Veiga was not with Sporting for long and moved permanently to Basel less than two weeks after his Augsburg loan came to a premature end.
The versatile defensive player starred for the Swiss giants, earning their Goal of the Season award, and consequently earned his move to Stamford Bridge. He will now play in La Liga, with Chelsea issuing a statement upon his exit which read: "We thank Renato for his efforts during his time at Chelsea and wish him well as he begins a new chapter in his career."