Chelsea have agreed a fee with Sporting CP for midfielder Dario Essugo.
A fee of £18.5million ($23.9m) has been agreed for the 20-year-old, with no add-ons or sell-on clauses included as part of the deal.
Terms are in place on a seven-year contract and Essugo is set to join up with the Chelsea first-team squad this summer.
Chelsea have been in the market for a midfielder and someone to act as back-up for Moises Caicedo given the club are lacking cover in that area in the upcoming summer window. The expectation is Essugo will be rotated with Caicedo next season.
The move for Essugo comes after The Athletic reported on Friday Chelsea had reached an agreement with Sporting to sign winger Geovany Quenda.
The 17-year-old will remain at the Portuguese club next season and then move to Stamford Bridge in July 2026. A seven-year deal is also in place for Quenda, who Manchester United had explored a move for in January.
Essugo has spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Las Palmas, making 17 La Liga appearances.
The defensive midfielder made his senior Sporting debut in 2021, becoming the club’s youngest debutant, and has gone on to make 25 first-team appearances.
Essugo, a Portugal youth international, spent the second half of the 2023-24 season on loan at fellow Portuguese top-flight side Chaves.
Chelsea are currently fourth in the Premier League and return to action on Sunday with a trip to Arsenal.
‘Essugo to help share Caicedo workload’
This is the second player Chelsea have agreed to sign from Sporting CP in as many days but unlike Geovany Quenda, Essugo will be joining the senior squad this summer rather than in 2026.
Chelsea have been working on this deal for some time too because they wanted to find someone who could provide more cover and support for Moises Caicedo.
The midfielder is one of Chelsea’s most important players and is the only one other than Cole Palmer to start every Premier League game under head coach Enzo Maresca this season. The club believe Essugo can come in and help share some of the workload.
Chelsea have already decided to bring back Andrey Santos from his loan at Strasbourg to be part of things in 2025-26, but that is to compete with Romeo Lavia.
The club will sign a striker this season and intend to fund it by selling players no longer wanted at the club. The process to sort out moves for these individuals is already under way. Chelsea also intend to sign a right-footed winger.
(Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
