Chelsea: Enzo Maresca offers update on Renato Veiga future amid Borussia Dortmund transfer links | OneFootball

Chelsea open to selling Veiga just six months after his arrival

Enzo Maresca says he is “not aware” of any deal to sell Renato Veiga this month, but warned the unsettled defender not to ignore the role Chelsea have played in his rapid rise.

Veiga is the subject of interest from several clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, and Chelsea are open to sanctioning a January exit for a player who only joined from Basel last summer.

“At the moment, I’m not aware there’s an agreement for Renato,” Maresca said on Monday, ahead of Tuesday night’s Premier League meeting with Bournemouth.

“The only thing I can say is that yesterday, he was here working with us and today he will be here with us.

“That means that at the moment he is our player. Then we will see if something happens. I’m not aware that there is any agreement already with him.”

Veiga was a relative unknown when signed in the summer and has started only one Premier League game this term, but his versatility has been useful to Maresca, who has called upon the 21-year-old in a variety of roles - including centre-back, left-back and in midfield - when rotating his team for European and domestic cup games.

Despite his lack of league minutes, Veiga has caught the eye of Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, handed a first international call-up in the autumn, and Maresca believes Chelsea should take credit for his swift development.

Renato Veiga has impressed in the cup competitions

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

“We bought Renato from Basel, he arrived here and played in different positions and played well,” Maresca said. “This allowed him to join the national team for the first time in his life.

“If he is playing for the national team then it probably means that in the position he is playing he can do well.”

All three of Veiga’s Portugal appearances so far have come at centre-back and there are suggestions that the player is frustrated at not being used in his preferred role more often by his club.

Chelsea have been navigating something of an injury crisis at centre-back recently, with Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile out injured. However, while the likes of Josh Acheampong, Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo have all stepped in, Veiga’s only starts in the heart of defence have come against Panathanikos and Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League.

Maresca, though, says he has spoken to Veiga about the issue and warned him he must be prepared to play a variety of roles.

“I had a chat with Renato,” he said. “I said to him exactly the same as I just said to you.

“In terms of playing in the position that he is playing with us, that gave him the chance to join the national team and also probably the chance to get this speculation around him. That means clubs are looking for him. Clubs look for players that are doing well, not that are doing badly.

Asked whether Veiga is frustrated at his lack of playing time more generally, Maresca added: “Yes, but I said many times I also want long hair! But we have more than 20 players, 25 players and they all want to play but it’s not possible.”