“Crucial…” Fabrizio Romano reveals why Manchester United missed out on Geovany Quenda after Chelsea hijack

Fabrizio Romano has revealed why Manchester United have missed out on a deal to sign Geovany Quenda, with the Sporting star set to head to Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Manchester United fans had long believed that Geovany Quenda’s move to Old Trafford was only a matter of time.

Rúben Amorim had promoted the young talent to Sporting’s first team, where he became a key figure in the 3-4-3 system.

However, those expectations were shattered on Friday morning. Fresh off United’s progression to the Europa League quarter-finals, supporters woke up to the stunning news that Chelsea had swooped in to secure Quenda’s signature.

Chelsea—who have spent over £1 billion on transfers since 2022—have pulled off yet another major coup.

Beating United to the deal, their Premier League rivals reached an agreement with Sporting for Quenda, tying him down to an eight-year contract. According to Fabrizio Romano, the youngster has already completed the main part of his medical.

Where United in the race for Quenda?

The simple answer is yes. According to transfer specialist Romano, United had been in conversations for weeks regarding a transfer for Quenda this summer.

The Italian journalist explained on his YouTube channel on Friday morning that Quenda was a player who was high on United’s transfer list and a player that Amorim greatly appreciates, but that finances are still an issue for the club.

“Sir Jim Ratcliffe said that there will be a budget in the summer for Rúben Amorim, but it’s really important for Man United, first of all, to understand whether they will play European football next season or not,” Romano stated further.

“That’s a crucial point – and then the sales. For Man United, it’s really important to sell players. That’s absolutely, absolutely crucial for Manchester United. That’s something we’ve been repeating for a long time, and then also Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Rúben Amorim, all people at the club are not denying the reality.

“So for Man United, selling players is really important, and this is why they can’t be fast on the market.”

Why United missed out on signing Quenda

Further, Romano revealed that, on top of the current financial situation, Chelsea were able to beat United to the signing of Quenda as they are allowing the Portuguese talent to stay at Sporting for a further season before joining the London side in 2026.

This was different to United’s proposal, who wanted to sign the 17-year-old this summer and add him straight into Amorim’s side.

“According to my information, Geovany Quenda will join Chelsea in summer 2026. So not now, but letting the players stay at Sporting for one more season,” Romano explained.

“This is a crucial topic in the conversation club to club because of course for example Man United wanted Geovany Quenda to join the club immediately. He was considered an important part of the conversation for Rúben Amorim in this summer transfer window.

“Chelsea have Estêvão Willian coming to the club, Kendry Páez coming to the club. Of course these are different players, these are different skills for these players but still offensive players.

“Chelsea already have many players in those positions and so they are willing to accept Sporting’s conditions of ‘let us have the player for one more season’ in order to anticipate other clubs and sign Geovany Quenda.”

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