Chelsea are finalising a deal for winger Jesse Derry to join Sporting CP on a season-long loan.
The 19-year-old has signed a new six-year deal to keep him at the club to 2032, after making his Premier League debut against Nottingham Forest in May.
A move to Rui Borges’ side would see him participate in Champions League football after the Portuguese side finished second last season, behind champions Porto.
Derry impressed for Chelsea on his first start, playing left wing against Forest, but he was taken off on a stretcher just before half time following a clash of heads with Zach Abbott and sustained a concussion.
The winger had made his senior debut off the bench in Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Hull City in the FA Cup last season in February, making an instant impact. He was also introduced as a substitute in the round of 16 win over Wrexham in the same competition.
Derry joined the club after leaving Crystal Palace last summer and has featured regularly in Premier League 2 and the UEFA Youth League. He also scored 19 goals in 23 matches for Chelsea in the Under 18 Premier League last season.
Speaking to the club’s website in November, Derry said: “I’ve followed Chelsea for as long as I can remember. To be part of the club is surreal. If I could go back and tell that boy in the picture how far we’ve come, I don’t think he’d believe it. I just want to keep living in the moment, working hard and never lose sight of the goal of playing for the men’s team one day.”
Derry, the son of former professional footballer Shaun, has represented England at Under-17s, U-18s, and U-19s level.
A good choice for more first-team football
Analysis by Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey
Jesse Derry’s emergence was one of the few positive Chelsea stories in a miserable final stretch of last season — until he was knocked clean out in an aerial collision with Nottingham Forest defender Zach Abbott at Stamford Bridge in May.
Thankfully there were no lingering effects from that worrying incident, and Chelsea’s focus is now on ensuring Derry’s continued development. With no European football at Stamford Bridge next season, first-team minutes are likely to be thin on the ground.
Sporting appear a good choice. They have a strong developmental track record and have a good relationship with Chelsea, with the two clubs having done business on Dario Essugo and Geovany Quenda in the last two years.
Quenda formally completing his move from Lisbon to London this summer creates an opening on the wing in Sporting’s squad, giving Derry a realistic pathway to meaningful minutes domestically and in Europe next season.
