Chelsea loanee Renato Veiga suffers nightmare with Juventus in the Champions League, he played just 12 minutes

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The most successful of the players to depart Chelsea on loan in January so far has been Renato Veiga after his move to Juventus.

The 21-year-old was brought in by the Blues from Basel on a budget deal as they looked for appropriate cover for first-choice left-back Marc Cucurella.

It was clear that Ben Chilwell was not in Enzo Maresca’s plans for this season. The manager prefers his left-back to be able to tuck in and help out in the middle.

It was believed that this would be where Veiga would star, and he did just that in the Conference League where he was a regular.

However, Veiga made it clear he wanted to play at centre-back, and this has where he has so far started every game for the Italian side since his move.

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Renato Veiga suffers injury in nightmare Champions League outing for Juventus

The Portugal international has made an excellent start to life in the Serie A. Juventus fans have nicknamed Veiga ‘The Wall’.

He started again in the crucial Champions League playoff second leg against Feyenoord, as the Old Lady looked to protect a 1-0 first leg lead.

However, they were dumped out of the competition after extra time following a 3-1 loss away from home. However, blame cannot be placed at Veiga’s door.

Perhaps showing just how important he is to the side right now, Juventus collapsed after he came off injured after just 12 minutes.

It seemed to be a calf injury for Veiga, who has a pretty perfect injury record up to now. He didn’t miss a single game for this reason at Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Maresca’s thoughts on Renato Veiga

With Veiga only on loan, there is a chance that his future could remain in West London going forwards.

The manager was blindsided by the news that he wanted to leave in January, with Maresca hinting Veiga should have been more grateful for the opportunity he had been given at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca is reportedly ‘crazy’ about Veiga, and has no doubt seen just how effective he can be when playing in his preferred position of centre-back.

Given the struggles Chelsea are having at the back with injuries and poor form, he could be a serious candidate for minutes next season should he be happy to say.