Geovany Quenda has had a lengthy lead-in to his move to Chelsea, spending his time at biweekly English lessons and building physical strength to adapt to the demands of the Premier League through additional training and nutritional work.
However, after working to ensure he finished his final season at Sporting strongly, he suffered a broken fifth metatarsal (a bone on the outer edge of the foot) that kept him sidelined for four months. His side finished second and lost the cup final to minnows Torreense.
During that period, he completed much of his rehabilitation at Chelsea's Cobham training ground, where he spoke regularly with then-manager Liam Rosenior and several players, including compatriots Pedro Neto and Dario Essugo.
Quenda also quietly attended matches at Stamford Bridge during this time, while avoiding being seen.
Sources close to Quenda say he is targeting a regular first-team role at Chelsea and hopes to make his senior Portugal debut in the near future.