Versatile Chelsea defender Renato Veiga has verbally agreed to join Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund on loan this month, according to a report in Germany.
The Portugal international has impressed during his first campaign at Stamford Bridge since arriving from FC Basel in the summer, lining up in a variety of roles, often within the same match. However, Veiga has struggled to break into Chelsea’s Premier League XI, making just one top-flight start all season.
Serie A title contenders Napoli saw an opportunity to snap up the underused 21-year-old in January, but Antonio Conte’s side are no longer favorites to land Veiga.
Borussia Dortmund has managed to reach a “whole verbal agreement” with Veiga, according to reports Sky Sport Germany. The Bundesliga side, who have also expressed interest in Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka, are believed to be interested in agreeing a loan deal that includes an option to buy.
Veiga is supposedly “interested” in moving to Germany, but Chelsea have not agreed a deal and coach Enzo Maresca has openly expressed his desire to keep the versatile defender. “Renato is our player,” the Italian manager insisted before Saturday’s emphatic 5-0 FA Cup victory over Morecambe, in which Veiga started. “He is a player we are happy to have here with us.
“The last game he played was against Tottenham and at a delicate moment in the game we put him there. This showed how much we trust Renato.
“But as I said, it’s not just what I think, or what the club thinks, or what the player thinks. It is something that we all need together to make the right decision for the club, the players and the coach.”
Fellow defender Axel Disasi could also be on his way out of west London. Sky Sports Italy revealed that the French centre-back is on Juventus’ short list of defensive reinforcements this month.
The Serie A giants are also battling Arsenal for Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo and maintain interest in Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva.
