Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Wolves winger Pedro Neto for a fee of £51.3m, plus £2.6m in add-ons. The Blues’ interest in the Portuguese international has been well-documented, as they beat the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United to land Neto’s signature ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Neto had been with Wolves since 2019, after making the move to the club from Portuguese side, Braga. He’d been a regular in the Wolves starting XI ever since he signed for them, but found it difficult to stay injury-free in the last three seasons in particular, which will be a slight concern for Chelsea supporters.
The Blues haven’t been shy of adding to their squad this summer, and with newly-appointed boss Enzo Maresca adding Neto to his ranks, the pressure is on to produce positive results at the earliest of opportunities, with England legend John Barnes amongst many predicting a closely-fought battle for the Champions League places.
We’ll take a look at two pros and one con as Neto settles into life in SW6.
Pro – Neto has Premier League experience
Chelsea have signed plenty of players over the years that don’t have any experience of playing in the Premier League, and with the demanding nature of the English top-flight, some of those signings certainly come with an element of risk.
This isn’t the case with Neto though, as he’s spent the last five years of his career playing in the Premier League, and he’s certainly caught the eye for all the right reasons. There’s obviously a slight risk attached to this transfer deal due to the sizeable transfer fee Chelsea have paid to sign him, but he’s got experience of playing at this level, and we’re expecting him to justify that price tag.
Pro – It adds obvious quality to the Chelsea squad
There’s been a weight of expectation on Cole Palmer to provide the creative spark for Chelsea, and that’s understandable given what we’ve seen the youngster is capable of at this level. However, the likes of Mykhaylo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling weren’t anywhere near good enough last season, and additional quality in wide areas of this Chelsea team were needed.
Neto adds that quality out wide, and given the transfer fee that the club have paid for his services, you’d expect him to be a regular in the starting XI. He chipped in with three goals and 11 assists in his 24 appearances for Wolves last season, and will fancy his chances of building on that impressive tally heading into the new Premier League campaign.
Con – Neto’s injury record
Despite Neto’s qualities, his injury record in the last few seasons will be a concern. In total, he’s spent 584 days out injured, and has missed 112 matches for Wolves in that time. The last thing Chelsea will want is for Neto to pick up another injury problem that could see him sidelined for a prolonged period of time, and so it’s important that he’s eased back into action.
