Pedro Neto is Chelsea’s tenth signing of the 2024 summer transfer window. He is their most expensive at £54million (£51m + £3m in add-ons) and for many, he is the one that excites most.
Neto was at Wolverhampton Wanderers for five years before deciding to move to Stamford Bridge. The 24-year-old was a real fan favourite at Molineux but had his struggles along the way as well.
Since being at Wolves, the Portugal international has missed a total of 112 matches – in all competitions – because of injury problems. It has not been one consistent issue either. For Neto, it has been his hamstring, ankle, knee, calf and more.
Neto missed 23 matches last season in what was another really frustrating spell for the winger. He did, though, manage to get himself fit enough for Portugal’s Euro 2024 campaign. Neto started just once under Roberto Martinez where he featured three times in the group stage. However, he was not used in the knockout phase as Portugal crashed out in the quarter-final to France.
The Braga youth product was involved in Wolves’ pre-season friendly win against RB Leipzig last weekend, in what was his first appearance since the Euros. There is no doubting Neto will be behind his Chelsea teammates in terms of fitness levels but he will be hoping to play catch up swiftly as the tricky winger gets introduced into Enzo Maresca’s team.
And the really exciting thing for Chelsea supporters is just how much wingers have thrived under Maresca in the past. In his Championship-winning season with Leicester City last time out, the Foxes were very reliant on their wide attackers to deliver the goods on a regular basis.
Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu were two of the star performers for Leicester last season. The two wingers completed more one-on-one duels than anyone in the Championship last term. Neto, similarly, thrives in one-on-one situations – as Maresca eluded to during his post-match interview following Chelsea’s draw with Inter Milan.
Maresca said this on Neto, who was unveiled to the Stamford Bridge crowd at half-time of the Blues’ final pre-season match: “I’m very excited, he can offer many things. He can play on the right side, he can play on the left side, he’s very good one-on-one.”
During the 2023/24 Premier League season, Neto averaged 1.66 completed dribbles per 90 minutes. And from the start of his Wolves tenure, he averaged 2.21 per 90 minutes.
Chelsea and Maresca will be hoping to improve the Portuguese’s output in front of goal – there is no doubt about that. When he is on the pitch, that is perhaps the only slight criticism you can have about Neto. During his 111 Premier League games, Neto has scored a total of 11 goals.
Neto’s strongest league season in terms of goals was 2020/21, where he also played the most minutes. He scored five goals and completed 2560 minutes during that campaign – a considerable amount more than any other term at Molineux.
Being 24 means he is, ridiculously, one of the more senior players in the Chelsea squad. At 24, though, there is still so much time to develop and improve. Maresca will be hoping he can help Neto do that because if that is the case, then Chelsea have a real world-beater on their hands.
