Deal done as Chelsea sign Leeds United 'target' as part of £62m deal
Leeds United were linked with the midfielder ahead of the January transfer window.
Sporting CP have confirmed an agreement with Chelsea to sign reported Leeds United January target Dario Essugo.
Leeds were linked with interest in Essugo going into the January transfer window, with journalist Alan Nixon reporting they were looking into a loan-to-buy deal for the midfielder who was mid-way through a season-long switch to Spanish outfit Las Palmas. Nixon then added via his Patreon page that a deal for the Portuguese Under-21 international could be worth around £6million, with Elland Road chiefs said to have been looking at the 20-year-old since summer.
Nothing ever came of those fleeting links, with Leeds already well-stocked in that area of the pitch. Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev were both injured at the time of Nixon’s report but both were back fit by early January, while summer arrivals Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell have excelled. Farke also has October free agent arrival Josuha Guilavogui to call on if needed.
Double Chelsea transfer confirmed
Shortly after Essugo emerged as a possible target for Leeds, Nixon named Chelsea as a potential rival for the young midfielder’s services. And the Stamford Bridge club look to have got their man, with Sporting CP confirming an agreement had been reached over the transfers of their on-loan midfielder and winger Geovany Quenda.
Chelsea will pay a combined fee of £62.4m for the Portuguese pair, with around £18.5m attributed to the purchase of Essugo - a more-than three-fold increase on the £6m loan-to-buy fee Nixon touted when reporting on interest from Leeds. Sporting will also receive a whopping £41.9m for Quenda.
An official statement from Sporting CP read: “Sporting SAD has reached a global agreement with Chelsea Football Club Limited for the definitive transfer of the sporting rights of players Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo, for a total amount of up to €74,408,816.32.
“The financial consideration for the transfer (of Essugo), which will take place at the end of the current sporting season, corresponds to a fixed amount of €22,272,275.00 with the player continuing to play for Unión Desportiva Las Palmas until the end of the current sporting season 2024/2025, and from the 2025/2026 season onwards, he will work for Chelsea FC.”
Were Leeds ever likely to sign Essugo?
There is a large gap to bridge between holding interest in a player and moving to sign them, and a deal for Essugo never looked likely in January. Leeds long maintained they were planning for a quiet month and so it came to pass, with no new arrivals coming through the door despite late interest in Southampton striker Cameron Archer.
Following those long-term injuries for Ampadu and Gruev, Farke admitted recruitment chiefs would be exploring all avenues to fill the gap in his squad and so it’s possible Leeds had options scoped out ahead of the January window. But it quickly became apparent Ampadu would be back before the New Year, with the Welshman eventually returning in Early December.
Gruev was also ahead of schedule and despite suggestions from his national team boss that the Bulgarian could be out until March or April, he returned off the bench in January’s FA Cup third round win over Harrogate Town. Leeds remained on their toes throughout the January window and undoubtedly had targets, but central midfield remains one of the squad’s strongest areas and so a move for Essugo would have been surprising.
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