Villarreal have signed defender Renato Veiga from Chelsea on a seven-year contract for a club-record fee that could reach £26m.
Portugal international Veiga, 22, joined the Blues from Basel for £12m days after manager Enzo Maresca’s arrival last July, making one start and six substitute appearances in the Premier League before joining Juventus on loan in January.
Chelsea transfers: Veiga adds to windfall
Chelsea have now earned more than £251m from selling 11 players during the summer transfer window, having spent around £277m on nine newcomers.
Their defensive signings have included left-back Jorrel Hato for an initial £35.5m from Ajax, centre-back Mamadou Sarr from partner club Strasbourg for £12m and midfielder Dario Essugo for £18.5m from Sporting.
Renato Veiga stats
The son of former Cape Verde international Nelson Veiga, Renato was a Sporting CP academy player and joined Augsburg on loan in 2023, making 13 Bundesliga appearances before joining Basel, where he made 26 appearances in all competitions in 2023/24 campaign.
He was ever-present throughout the group stage of Chelsea’s triumphant Conference League campaign last season and started 12 of the 14 Juventus games he was available for in Serie A.
A regular for Portugal at youth level, he won the first of his five senior caps against Poland in the Nations League in October 2024 and played for 46 minutes of his country’s win over Spain in the Nations League final in June.
