Second player stripped of Chelsea shirt number following £18m transfer signing

Chelsea have confirmed the shirt number Dario Essugo will wear following his £18m move to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues agreed a deal to sign the Portuguese midfielder in March alongside the signing of winger Geovany Quenda.

Quenda, 18, will spend another season at Sporting before joining Chelsea next summer, but Essugo has arrived in west London just in time for the Club World Cup.

Essugo impressed for Spanish side Las Palmas last season despite the club suffering relegation from La Liga.

The 20-year-old has signed a contract with Chelsea until 2033 and the club have confirmed he will wear the No. 14 shirt going forward.

That shirt was previously worn by Joao Felix but Chelsea are in talks to sell the Portuguese playmaker to Benfica.

Chelsea only signed Felix last summer but he struggled for game-time in the first-half of the season before being sent on loan to AC Milan in January.

Felix’s struggles continued in Serie A and the 25-year-old now looks set to return to his boyhood club Benfica in a deal worth around £20m.

‘I’m very happy,’ Essugo said after arriving at Chelsea. ‘It’s a big step to make early in my career.

‘Every player dreams of getting to a big club and Chelsea is no exception. It’s a massive club and I’m feeling proud and very happy to be here. 

‘Honestly, Chelsea showed big interest in me. When that happens, you can’t turn it down. When my dad told me Chelsea were interested, I was very happy and here we are now!’

Last week, Mykhailo Mudryk was stripped of his No. 10 shirt by Chelsea, who handed the iconic jersey to Cole Palmer.

Palmer has worn the No. 20 shirt for Chelsea ever since his £42.5 million move from Manchester City two years ago.

Mudryk, meanwhile, was handed Chelsea’s No.10 shirt when he joined Stamford Bridge in a £88.5m deal from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2023.

The Ukrainian has not featured for Chelsea since November after being provisionally suspended for failing a doping test the previous month.

Chelsea have also confirmed new signing Liam Delap will wear the No. 9 shirt following his £30m switch from Ipswich Town.

Enzo Maresca’s side, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season and won the Conference League, begin their Club World Cup campaign on Monday against Mexican side Leon.

The Blues then face Brazilian giants Flamengo and Tunisian outfit ES Tunis as they bid to progress from Group D and reach the knockout stages.

Felix, Raheem Sterling and Djordje Petrovic have all been left out of Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad as the Blues look to offload them this summer.

But new signings Delap, Essugo and Mamadou Sarr will also feature for the Premier League side, along with loan star Andrey Santos.

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