“I hope we don’t regret signing him” – John Obi Mikel reveals why Enzo Maresa did not need £54m player
Pedro Neto, who just signed with Chelsea, is a well-known player who comes to West London.
Pedro Neto, 24, was acquired by Chelsea last weekend from Wolverhampton Wanderers, a Premier League competitor. Will he perform well at Stamford Bridge in the next season?
The Portuguese winger has had a great five years with Wolves in England, despite suffering a number of ailments throughout that time. In 24 Wolves appearances in all competitions last season, he made 11 assists and scored three goals while playing healthy.
Jason Cundy loves that Neto has joined the Blues, as relayed on Chelsea’s official app. Hopefully, the skilful attacker can hit the ground running at his new home after signing for £54m (BBC).
John Obi Mikel questions Pedro Neto deal
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has delivered a mixed reaction to the Neto signing when discussing the deal on his podcast. While he does rate the left-footed forward as a player, he’s immediately concerned about his injury record.
For context, Neto’s only played 135 first-team games for Wolves across five seasons.
Mikel said on ‘The Obi One Podcast’: “£54m on him, a player who’s injury-prone. In his last three seasons, he’s missed more games than he’s played. For me, that’s a worry. It’s a worry that we decided to go for a player like that.
“When he’s fit and firing, he’s a really, really good player. There is no doubt about that. But then he’s very injury-prone. Why would you go for a player who is not going to be fit?”
Does Pedro Neto improve Chelsea’s starting XI?
When Neto is fit and firing, does he start in Chelsea’s best starting line-up?
Based on what he’s shown during his Wolves career, the answer is a categorical yes!
Each of Noni Madueke, Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk still have a lot to prove as Chelsea wingers because their form is pretty inconsistent.
If Neto can sort out his injury record, he’s shown that he can absolute torment Premier League defences with his pace and dribbling one-on-one.
It’s quite easy to criticise Chelsea signings when they’re so frequent and seemingly a bit all over the place. However, Neto is definitely one addition that could come good and actually make a big improvement to the XI on the pitch.