Renato Veiga: Chelsea's new €14m midfield 'muscle man' set to become the latest piece of Enzo Maresca's puzzle

The son of former Cape Verde international Nelson Veiga, Renato was born in Lisbon in 2003. Following in Cristiano Ronaldo's footsteps, he would join Sporting CP's famed academy in 2010, spending three years there before continuing his development at Real Sport Clube in Queluz on the outskirts of Portugal's capital.

It would be six years before Veiga returned to Sporting, swiftly progressing from the U17 team to the reserves as he was thrown in alongside players well above his age group. He made his debut for the B team in September 2020, scoring his first goal a few weeks later.

However, despite his swift progress, first-team opportunities would be hard to come by under Ruben Amorim, although he was included in a Champions League squad to face Manchester City in 2022 without making it onto the grass. "We have to think carefully about the moments when we release the kids," Amorim said at the time. "Renato Veiga is here because we have a few midfielders [out] at the moment. Just being here with the first team helps the children grow."

Having failed to make a first-team breakthrough by the time he turned 19, Veiga was loaned to Bundesliga side Augsburg in January 2023 in a one-year deal that included an option to buy. However, while he made his professional debut and was afforded plenty of minutes across 13 appearances, he failed to impress and the loan was cut short in the summer.

This proved to be the crucial juncture in his career to date; rather than keep hold of him, Veiga was sold to Basel for €4.6m (£4m/$5m) - Sporting's biggest-ever sale for a player who was yet to make their debut for the club, with a 10 percent sell-on clause also secured. "I came as a boy... with hair longer than my body. I leave as a grown man, with so much still to do. Words are not enough to express my immense gratitude to this enormous institution," Veiga said in his farewell message.

The defensive midfielder would make an immediate impact for the Swiss club in what would prove to be a challenging 2023-24 campaign for the serial title challengers; on debut against FC Zurich, Veiga curled home a brilliant free-kick to spark a comeback from two goals down as Basel snatched a draw. He was named Swiss Super League Player of the Week and the strike ultimately earned Basel's Goal of the Season award.

Veiga would emerge as a key player for Basel as a versatile midfield enforcer while they toiled at the wrong end of the table. Despite being defensive-minded, he collected an assist and scored again in an important run of results between December and January.

However, the second half of his season would be curtailed by a suspension for a red card for a reckless challenge against St Gallen and an ankle sprain, which saw him sit out the relegation play-offs as his team-mates secured survival in his absence.

While he has established himself as a starter at club level, his international career has progressed, too. Having risen through the age grades and captained the U20s, Veiga is now a starter for Portugal's U21s, playing every minute of European Championship qualifying so far.

It's not difficult to see how Veiga has caught the eye - after all, he's pretty hard to miss. Standing at 6'3, the nest of curly hair on his head makes him an even more imposing figure. Unsurprisingly, his towering physique makes him an aerial duel specialist and a threat from set-pieces.

You'd normally expect someone of his stature to be a lumbering lump whose only job is to crash into tackles and win aerial duels, but Veiga is the embodiment of the old adage 'good feet for a big man'. His technique is easy on the eye and he backs himself to best his opponent anywhere on the pitch with his footwork and physicality.

The midfielder's confidence in his own footballing ability means he is more than comfortable receiving the ball deep from his goalkeeper or centre-backs on his preferred left foot and turning to progress play, either through long passing or a driving run.

Perhaps Veiga's greatest asset, though, is his versatility; nominally a defensive midfielder, he is also comfortable at left-back or as a ball-playing centre-back - something that seems to have piqued transfer interest.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given Sporting didn't feel he was ready to be handed his debut in his time there, Veiga is still far from the polished article even if there is potential for him to become a very good player, although discipline could be a serious issue.

As someone who backs himself to play out from the back and evade the opposition's press, Veiga can be guilty of overplaying and getting himself into trouble. Indeed, that is exactly what transpired when he was sent off against St Gallen last season, trying to escape three pursuers before lunging into an ugly tackle that earned him his marching orders.

In March, Swiss publication Blick rather concerningly wrote: "No one has really learned anything about Veiga [since he signed]. There is no doubt that the muscle man from Lisbon has enormous talent. No other player in Switzerland combines such physique with such fine feet. It's just that the Portuguese U21 international rarely makes use of his huge potential, and instead regularly attracts attention with unnecessary tricks and wild gesticulations."

His manager Fabio Celestini has said: "Renato sometimes has a little too much energy. His game is sometimes not efficient enough, he needs to develop in that regard."

Veiga was booked seven times in 2023-24 and nine times the season before that. As much as he loves a strong challenge it's clear he needs to work on his recklessness. He was also dropped for a cup game last season for being late, which does not bode well. "It was about five minutes. And it was the first time ever that I was late," he said at the time. It has been alleged that he would often arrive late at Augsburg, too.

His accuracy from long balls is also something he needs to address, but that will undoubtedly improve as a player who clearly loves pinging it about.

After just a single campaign in Switzerland and with a season-and-a-half of senior club football under his belt, the youngster has become the latest member of Chelsea's youth revolution as they prepare for another new phase under Maresca.

The Blues have reportedly paid €14m to sign Veiga from Basel, who are set to make a significant profit on a player they paid €4.6m for less than a year ago. And as Veiga signs an eight-year contract, it remains to be seen whether he will be part of the first-team picture at Stamford Bridge or be loaned out initially, perhaps to BlueCo-owned Strasbourg in France.

Left-footed and versatile, Veiga is considered to be ideal for Maresca's system as a full-back who will invert into defensive midfield. He will likely play second fiddle to Marc Cucurella if he stays this season, but he does bring the kind of height that is lacking elsewhere in the squad.

A loan would perhaps make the most sense at this stage, with some way to go before he is ready to star as a regular for a leading Premier League side. If he can continue on his current trajectory, then Chelsea may well look back on this as an absolute bargain.