For the third time since joining Sporting Lisbon, Jesse Derry came on as a substitute for his loan side but this time, the Chelsea wonderkid found the back of the net.
After breaking into Chelsea’s senior side under Liam Rosenior last season and making his Premier League debut under Calum McFarlane last term, Derry is highly rated at Chelsea, and much is expected from him.
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But with Morgan Rogers and Geovany Quenda joining the club this summer, Chelsea and Derry agreed it was best for him to go on loan and get game time. Surprisingly, he completed a loan move to Sporting.
It almost sees him replace Quenda, although Derry is a left-sided winger and Quenda is better off the right. Derry has been making quite the impression since, impressing Sporting fans against Celtic initially.
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That resulted in a 4-1 win for Sporting, before the Portuguese side took on BlueCo’s other club. This time, Sporting secured an enormous 7-0 win over Strasbourg with Derry coming off the bench once again.
The English teenager was key in two of Sporting’s goals, and many thought he might start when Sporting faced Monaco on Saturday night. Derry had to contend with a place on the bench, but he made it count.
Coming off the bench just before the hour mark with Sporting already leading, Derry received the ball in the Monaco box on 68 minutes. He curled the ball home, and Chelsea fans have reacted on social media.
Plenty of Chelsea supporters caught wind of Derry’s goal immediately after he had netted. One fan said Derry is “destined for greatness” after watching him leave Swiss goalkeeper Philipp Kohn helpless.
Not only did Derry score a superb goal, but he did the Cole Palmer celebration to top it off. Another said Derry should be “starting by 2027-28” and that the Chelsea youngster has “Ballon d’Or potential”.
More Chelsea fans took to social media with their reactions, another posting “the first of many for our wonderful talent”, while another described the technique for his goal as “stupendous” on Saturday night.
Geovany Quenda reacts to Jesse Derry scoring for Sporting
Quenda, who picked up an injury while on pre-season duty against Bromley this week, clearly has a close eye on Derry’s progress at Sporting. Not only because they will compete for minutes in the future.
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But because Derry is now playing for his boyhood club, and the two swapped sides this summer. On his Instagram, Quenda took a screenshot of Derry celebrating his goal and posted: “Enjoy it, my friend”.
Sporting and Derry have one more pre-season game to play this summer, before kicking off their season. They take on Premier League side Nottingham Forest, the team Derry made his league debut against.
But also the team that saw Derry stretchered off just before half-time during a 3-1 home defeat, after picking up a nasty-looking head injury. He will be hoping to get a start ahead of the season opener.
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