The January transfer window may have taken up the attention of Chelsea supporters right now, but there’s still a busy month of scheduled games to play.
Chelsea kickstart their FA Cup campaign on Saturday afternoon by hosting League Two club Morecambe in the third round. The Blues have reached the FA Cup final three times in the last five years, but they’ve not lifted the trophy since 2018.
Chelsea’s predicted line-up against Morecambe includes drastic changes from the team that managed a 1-1 draw away to Crystal Palace last weekend in the Premier League.
Enzo Maresca confirms Renato Veiga will be involved vs Morecambe
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed in his pre-match interview that Renato Veiga, 21, will get minutes this weekend in the FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge.
“Renato is our player, tomorrow he is going to play. He’s a player that we are happy to have with us,” Maresca said.
Even though Veiga is strongly linked with a move away from the Blues this month, he’ll be on the pitch against Morecambe.
Veiga could leave Chelsea in January despite only joining them in a £12m deal (BBC) in the most recent summer window. Apparently, the Blues are keen to keep the versatile Portugal international, but he’s receiving interest from several clubs in Europe.
-Chelsea have rejected an enquiry from Wolverhampton Wanderers for Veiga, so he won’t be moving to Molineux Stadium in this mid-season window.
Can Chelsea afford to let Renato Veiga leave?
Veiga is an extremely useful player in the Chelsea squad because he provides cover at centre-half, left-back, and even in midfield. In particular, he’s been the backup option to Marc Cucurella at left-back.
The Portuguese youngster’s played 17 Blues games across all competitions this season, so we’d argue he’s an important part of the group.
Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell could leave in January, so the club should avoid putting themselves in a position where Cucurella has no adequate cover.
If the Blues can enjoy a deep run in this season’s FA Cup, we’d expect players such as Veiga to start regularly like they do in the Conference League.
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