Chelsea close to signing Sporting CP starlet Dario Essugo | OneFootball

Chelsea 'very close' to signing new midfielder before deadline, Blues to pay €20 million - report

Chelsea are in the market for a midfielder. The Blues want to strengthen their ranks by adding a player in the engine room.

Cesare Casadei has left Stamford Bridge permanently while Romeo Lavia is injured, and utility man Renato Veiga was inexplicably allowed to head out on loan to Juventus.

Consequently, Chelsea need to sign a new midfielder, and after refusing to recall Andrey Santos and Lesley Ugochukwu from their loan spells, they have set their sights on Sporting CP starlet Dario Essugo.

The Portuguese midfielder is one of the brightest talents from the famed Sporting CP academy and left for Las Palmas on loan this season.

Essugo has impressed in the Spanish top flight with his performances, drawing the attention of clubs like Real Sociedad.

The 19-year-old is a positionally disciplined, technically sound holding midfielder who breaks up opposition attacks for fun.

Essugo can deputise for the overused Moises Caicedo and replace Enzo Fernandez when the Blues need extra physicality in the engine room.

Chelsea do not have more loan space, so he will likely join the Blues immediately if he were to sign on the dotted line.

The potential signing of Essugo does little to mask the egregious squad planning that has plagued Chelsea’s recent transfer activity.

The fact that the club is scrambling for midfield reinforcements again speaks volumes about the amateurish approach of the sporting directors.

They entered the window needing quality, and through a combination of short-sighted sales, ill-conceived loans, and apparent disregard for squad depth, they have created a gaping need for quantity as well.

Refusing to recall promising youngsters like Santos and Ugochukwu, only to shell out a significant sum for another unproven talent, smacks of desperation rather than strategic vision.

Essugo may well blossom into a star, but his acquisition feels like a band-aid on a gaping wound, a consequence of terrible squad management that leaves Chelsea vulnerable and their already overburdened manager with even more headaches.

This chaotic approach to team building is unsustainable. Unless a serious overhaul of the backroom operations occurs, Chelsea risk squandering their vast resources and condemning themselves to perpetual mediocrity.