Renato Veiga starred for Chelsea as the Blues continued their fine run with a 4-2 win against Gent in the UEFA Conference League.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca heavily rotated the Chelsea side that defeated Brighton 4-2 at home. He gave minutes to some fresh legs with regular starters like Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson axed off the squad.
The rotation didn’t hurt Chelsea though. The home team got into action 12 minutes into the game. Renato Veiga put the hosts ahead, grabbing his debut goal for the Blues.
Shortly after the break, another Portuguese, Pedro Neto finished Axel Disasi’s through-ball clinically to double the lead. However, Gent pulled one back. Watanabe headed home a Gudjohnsen cross to keep the visitors’ comeback hopes alive.
Chelsea got their third goal of the night in the 63rd minute. Renato Veiga was involved again. He left Adarabioyo’s pass for Nkunku, and the Frenchman fired a ferocious strike into the back of the net from outside the box.
Overall, Enzo Maresca won’t have too many complaints about his side’s performance on the night. They largely dominated proceedings against the Belgian side and the win does well to add to the Blues’ current momentum.
Several players put an amazing shift in the tie but one name that stood out among all is Renato Veiga. The Portuguese put up a sensational performance and was largely impressive throughout the 90 minutes. He got himself on the scoresheet and set up Nkunku.
Also, he was still largely influential in the proceedings. He won all his duels and completed 100% of his dribbles.
Chelsea fans would no doubt be excited about the prospects of the 21-year-old in the Blues’ rebuild under Enzo Maresca.
Who is Renato Veiga?
Renato Palma Veiga is a professional footballer playing as a defender for Chelsea in the Premier League and Portugal U-21.
He was born on July 29, 2003, in Lisbon Portugal where he groomed and nurtured his career with Primeira Liga side Sporting CP.
Renato Veiga career
Veiga joined hometown Sporting CP academy when he was seven. He moved to Real Massama shortly after. He would later rejoin the Portuguese club in 2019.
In 2023, he was sent to German side FC Augsburg on loan. It was a season-long loan deal which was expected to last throughout the campaign but it was cut short just six months into his stay at the club. Augsburg claimed he couldn’t live up to the bidding and was not impressed with his performance.
Following the botched spell with Augsburg, Veiga moved to FC Basel, joining the club on a four-year contract. He made his debut for the Swiss giants on September 3, 2023, scoring his debut goal in the same game via a free kick. He spent just a year with the club before the move to Chelsea.
On July 12, 2024, Veiga signed a seven-year deal with London club Chelsea for a reported fee of €14m. He made his debut for the club in a 2-0 loss against Manchester City, coming off the bench late into the game.
Renato Veiga was called up to the Portugal National team for the first time in September 2024 for the Nations League games against Croatia and Scotland.
Renato Veiga stats
Veiga has had spells across Sporting CP B team, Augsburg, Basel and Chelsea, he has played 74 games across that period, scoring 7 times. He made 31 appearances for Sporting CP B, scoring four goals. At Augsburg, he made 13 appearances and 26 at Basel. So far, he has tallied 8 appearances for Chelsea, scoring one goal.
Renato Veiga’s contract, salary and market value
Renato Veiga signed a seven-year contract, including an average annual salary of £1,300,000, and a weekly pay of £25,000. According to Transfermarkt, his estimated market value is €8m.
