Chelsea sent Jesse Derry to Sporting this summer for regular minutes. So far, those minutes haven’t really arrived.
The 19-year-old has played just 26 minutes across three competitive appearances for Sporting. Every one of them has come from the bench.
That will surely create some discomfort at Chelsea, who renewed Derry’s contract until 2032 before sending him to Portugal without a purchase option.
For the Blues, this was always supposed to be a development year. Two months into the season, Derry remains some way down Rui Borges’ attacking pecking order.
Sporting are making it difficult to change anything
The problem for Derry is quite simple. Sporting are playing very well and the players directly ahead of him are delivering.
They remain unbeaten this season and have already started their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 victory over Galatasaray.
There have been two domestic slips, with draws against Estrela da Amadora and Famalicão. Those results have left Sporting behind Porto and Benfica, who are also unbeaten.
Otherwise, there hasn’t been much reason for Borges to rip up his attacking plans. Flávio Gonçalves has won the place on the left and already has three goals. On the opposite flank, Geny Catamo has started the season with one goal and three assists.
Even when Borges turns to his bench for a winger, former West Ham United player Luis Guilherme has generally been ahead of Derry. That leaves the Chelsea youngster waiting for scraps.
His three appearances tell the story. Derry played eight minutes against Estrela, 15 against Vitória and just four against Rio Ave. He has been an unused substitute in the other competitive matches for which he has made the squad.
There has even been an unusual pattern to his introductions. Derry has sometimes replaced centre-forwards late in matches.
He isn’t suddenly being used as a striker. He moves to his natural left side, but Sporting then finish the match without the same central attacking reference, which seemed a helpful link for him during pre-season.
The cups won’t rescue Chelsea youngster yet
Usually, this is where a young loanee can look towards the cup competitions. But that isn’t much help to Derry either.
Sporting’s first Taça da Liga fixture isn’t until October 27, when they face Marítimo. That competition traditionally gives managers a little more room to rotate and would appear an obvious opportunity for him. There’s still more than a month to wait.
Until then, Sporting’s schedule is dominated by league and Champions League football. With the Lisbon club chasing Porto and Benfica domestically and competing in Europe, Borges has plenty of incentive to stick with the players currently producing.
That doesn’t mean Derry’s loan from Chelsea is in trouble after only a few weeks. His pre-season offered plenty of encouragement, including a superb goal against Monaco at Alvalade.
But the situation is worth watching. They sent him to Portugal to make the jump from youth football into the senior game. Right now, Sporting are flying and the players blocking his route into the team are doing their jobs very well.
Derry’s challenge over the coming weeks is finding a way to make Borges change something that currently doesn’t need much changing.
