“I was shocked” – Pedro can’t believe Chelsea sold £30m player after Man city defeat
Pedro Rodríguez, a former attacker for Chelsea, has been responding to the team’s weekend loss to Manchester City.
Erling Haaland and former Blues midfielder Mateo Kovacic scored goals for the visitors as Chelsea lost 2-0 at home.
In the first leg of their Conference League play-off tie against Servette on Thursday, Enzo Maresca’s club will be looking to win and get back on track.
Maresca was not pleased with the Chelsea supporters after the City loss and will be hoping for a more upbeat environment when Chelsea visits Stamford Bridge later this week.
Kovacic was originally transferred by Chelsea to City for £25 million last summer. Pedro was taken aback by the transfer and is now doubting it once more.
After including Kovacic in his team of the week, the former Chelsea forward said: “What I love about Kovacic, and I was surprised that Chelsea let him go, is that he’s one of the best midfielders at running with the ball as well. If you watch the way he plays, it’s so comfortable.
“He has got that acceleration when he drops a shoulder and dribbles past players. I saw it in pre-season when he set up a goal for Jack Grealish. He ran the length of the pitch with the ball and teed it for Grealish to finish in pre-season.
“And yesterday [Sunday] those Chelsea midfielders are thinking, ‘Oh, midfielders can do that?’ [Moises] Caicedo, [Romeo] Lavia and [Enzo] Fernandez don’t do that. Kovacic is one of the midfielders that will take you on, will commit you and he has got a goal in him as well.”
It was claimed that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was interested in signing Kovacic for Fenerbahce. But after covering so well for Rodri on Sunday, it is unlikely that City are going to let him go anywhere, especially this late in the transfer window.
Should Chelsea have sold Mateo Kovacic to Man City?
Having just a year left on his contract, in the end, Chelsea probably had no choice but to sell Kovacic to City.
That being said, perhaps they should have done more to try and keep the 30-year-old at the club. Kovacic is such an experienced player, something the current Chelsea squad is lacking, and is one of the best midfielders in the world when it comes to carrying the ball.
As per FBref, the Croatian has ranked in the 85th percentile for progressive carries among midfielders over the last year.
Chelsea do have Fernandez, Caicedo and Lavia. Lavia really impressed in the Man City game. But Kovacic has just shown his former club that they may have made the wrong decision by allowing him to move to the Etihad last summer.