Jesse Derry has completed his first outing in Sporting Lisbon colours after the Chelsea teenager joined the Portuguese giants on loan, and Sporting fans have had their say.
The relationship between Sporting and Chelsea is a strong one. Geovany Quenda has arrived at Chelsea from the Liga NOS heavyweights, after Dario Essugo arrived last summer after a solid loan at Las Palmas.
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With Sporting needing to replace the loss of Quenda, they gave Chelsea a ring and completed a loan deal for Derry. The winger, who made his Premier League debut last season, signed a new deal before going.
Obviously, Chelsea will be hopeful that Derry performs well as he is introduced into first-team football on what is a big stage. On Tuesday night, Sporting took on Scottish champions Celtic and secured a 4-1 win.
What Sporting fans are saying about Jesse Derry
Derry made his Chelsea debut under Liam Rosenior after starring in Chelsea’s second string. Then, Calum McFarlane handed him a first Premier League start in the defeat to Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
That ended prematurely due to a head injury With Quenda arriving at Chelsea, Derry has realised the need to go on loan and get game time. Not many will have predicted a move to Sporting this summer.
But Derry will remain in Portugal for the next 12 months, and on Tuesday night, he was introduced in the 63rd minute as Sporting cruised past Celtic with preparations fully underway ahead of the 26-27 season.
Despite only playing for around 30 minutes, Derry clearly made his mark. One Sporting fan described his performance as “amazing.” Another said it was a “decent cameo”, and showed some “nice touches”.
One supporter is confident that Derry will shine at Sporting, nervous that he may become attached: “They say never to fall in love with a loan player, but the Englishman is going to make that task very difficult.”
The praise continued to come in for Derry, with one posting: “Jesse Derry showed interesting details right off the bat—what a personality.” Clearly, Sporting fans are already growing excited by the Chelsea winger.
Jesse Derry vs BlueCo incoming: Sporting take on Strasbourg
Watching from afar, Chelsea fans will get to see Derry in a Sporting shirt three more times before the start of the new season. Interestingly, Sporting take on BlueCo’s Strasbourg on Monday in their next friendly.
Monaco is next, before Derry faces Nottingham Forest for the second time in his short career on August 31. Their first game of the season is away at Estrela on August 8, and then a home game against Vitoria.
But first impressions for Derry look good, especially considering the pressure he is already under having donned Cristiano Ronaldo’s no.28. With his blonde hair, the comparisons are obvious going into 2026-27.
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