Veiga joins Villarreal for £26m

 

RENATO VEIGA COMPLETES £26M MOVE FROM CHELSEA TO VILLARREAL

Portuguese defender Renato Veiga has brought his short Chelsea stint to an end, completing a permanent move to La Liga side Villarreal in a deal worth up to £26 million.

The 22-year-old only joined the Blues last summer from Swiss club Basel for £12m and featured 18 times in the first half of the 2024/25 campaign. However, his game time quickly dried up, leading to a January loan spell at Juventus where he played 15 Serie A matches and gained valuable top-flight experience in Italy.

Veiga’s preference to operate as a centre-back rather than the left-back role he was often deployed in led to friction with the Chelsea hierarchy. By the latter stages of last season, he had been moved into the club’s so-called “bomb squad” – a group of out-of-favour senior players training separately from the first team under manager Enzo Maresca.

With Villarreal keen to bolster their back line, the Yellow Submarine swooped to secure his signature, offering Veiga the chance of a fresh start in Spain’s top division. For Chelsea, the transfer represents another step in their ongoing squad rebuild, as they continue to trim the wage bill and generate funds after a summer of heavy investment.

Veiga’s departure takes Chelsea’s total sales to around £251.7m from 11 players, helping to offset the £277m spent on nine new recruits this window. The Blues view the move as part of their wider balancing act between youth development, player trading, and first-team priorities.

For Veiga, however, the switch marks an important opportunity to re-establish himself as a regular starter, this time in La Liga with Villarreal, where his ability to play across the defence could prove invaluable.