For a few weeks, it had looked like things were stalling at Chelsea, both in terms of incomings and outgoings. New signings were believed to be dependent on departures taking place before that, but the Blues seemed to be struggling to find agreements when it came to those on their transfer list. But finally, it appears that there is some movement in that regard.
One of the players who has seemed keen on a move away from Chelsea this summer is Renato Veiga. Many felt that Levi Colwill's injury could have opened up a window of opportunity for him to get into the first-team. But the Portuguese international has never really seemed on staying on at Stamford Bridge.
Now, Veiga is set to get his move. After spending the second half of last season on loan in the Italian Serie A with Juventus, his next destination is the Spanish La Liga.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Villarreal have agreed a deal in principle to sign Veiga from Chelsea. The club-to-club verbal agreement is done for €29.5m total package plus a sell-on clause. He will travel soon for medical tests. It has been given the 'Here we go'.
'Here we go' - Fabrizio Romano announces next Chelsea move
To be honest, we had wanted to see Veiga actually get a proper run in the Chelsea first-team and see what he could do, especially with Colwill out injured for the foreseeable future. But now, that opportunity is no longer on the table.
One can only hope that this ultimately leads to Chelsea signing a centre-back. They certainly need a quality option in that area of the pitch.
Of course, the media briefing has been that Chelsea are confident about the options that they already have and feel that Enzo Maresca has enough options to fill the void left by Colwill's injury. But it is possible that that stance could be a tactic to not lose any leverage in negotiations, in case they do try to sign a centre-back late in this summer transfer window.