Enzo Maresca’s hugely instrumental role in Chelsea beating Man Utd to exciting £40m transfer | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca reportedly played a huge role in convincing Sporting Lisbon wonderkid Geovany Quenda to join the club.

The 17-year-old is on his way to Chelsea in a £40m deal, though he will be staying in Portugal and not arriving in London until summer 2026.

That’s according to the Daily Mail, who have also explained that Maresca spoke directly to Quenda and gave him confidence about his future at Stamford Bridge.

This looks like great work by Maresca, with Quenda having also been one of the targets for his former Sporting manager Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, according to the Athletic.

It would surely have been tempting for Quenda to work alongside Amorim again at Old Trafford, but Maresca is clearly persuasive!

Enzo Maresca looks to have pulled off a transfer masterstroke for Chelsea

Sporting winger Geovany Quenda and Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca (Photo by Gualter Fatia, Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Although managers don’t tend to be that involved in signings in the modern era, it seems Maresca really contributed to Quenda choosing Chelsea.

The Italian tactician may have some critics for how his Blues side have played at times this season, but he’s clearly helped them in the transfer market.

Quenda is a hugely exciting prospect and was wanted by a big name like Man Utd before Maresca’s fine work to convince him otherwise.

CFC haven’t been that patient with their managers down the years, but fans will surely hope they stick with Maresca long enough that he’s able to end up working with Quenda when he eventually joins in 2026.

The former Leicester City manager has made a decent start in challenging circumstances at Chelsea, and has surely earned more time, even if the second half of the season has been a bit disappointing after the promising start to the campaign.