3 assists in 4 starts and a Champions League goal – Chelsea youngster “exploding” after slow start | OneFootball

The rise of Estevao at Chelsea is happening before our eyes. Blues fans have been excited about him for more than a year, but it’s taken until now for much of the rest of the world to catch on.

That winning goal against Liverpool last week felt like his announcement to the world.

But his breakout is distracting from the fact that another young winger we’ve signed a year ahead of his arrival is also undergoing a similar moment.

A Bola, Portugal’s top football daily paper, have a really interesting piece about Sporting winger Geovany Quenda and his recent “explosion” onto the scene.

Quenda starts to warm up to new season

Geovany Quenda with Chelsea News logo. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

As they noted, Quenda started the season as a sub, but has been brought into the starting lineup recently following the injury to Geny Cartamo.

Quenda has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He’s now picked up 3 assists in just 4 starts in the Portuguese league. The first game on his first start, less than a month ago.

He followed that with a superb midweek goal for Sporting in the Champions League. In the four games since that, against Moreirense, Estoril, Braga and Napoli in the Champions League, he’s called “one of the best” by the paper.

Quenda looking refreshed and ready after break

It’s been a slow start for Quenda this season because he had such a huge workload last season – he played more than 60 games, only finishing his season in mid-July after playing at the U21 Euros. He needed a rest and a slow reintroduction to football, and Sporting coach Rui Borges has done just that.

He and the player now look like they’ll be reaping the rewards of that caution.

Chelsea paid a mighty €51m for Quenda, so there is a lot to live up to. But the progress he’s making now is really promising.