Chelsea have agreed to sell Portuguese defender Renato Veiga to Villarreal in a deal worth up to £26m, pushing the club’s summer transfer sales beyond £250m.
The 22-year-old, who joined from FC Basel in 2024 for £12m, is set to sign a seven-year contract after completing a medical in Spain on Thursday.
Villarreal’s fee is close to their transfer record.
Deemed surplus to requirements by manager Enzo Maresca, Veiga featured 18 times for Chelsea and spent part of last season on loan at Juventus.
Atletico Madrid had also shown interest earlier in the window.
His departure brings Chelsea’s total income from player sales to around £251.7m from 11 departures, offsetting £277m spent on nine new signings this summer.
Major exits include Noni Madueke to Arsenal (£48m), Joao Felix to Al-Nassr (£43.7m), and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Everton (£28m).
The Blues are still pursuing Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons before the September 1 deadline, while looking to offload Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, and Axel Disasi.
