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Chelsea criticised for Joao Pedro signing: 'He's not at that level!'
Cameron Smith
- 22 Sept 2025 15:15 BST
- 4 min read
News
Gary Neville has criticised Chelsea’s activity in the transfer market yet again and he believes they are still lacking a world-class centre forward.
The Blues suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday evening and Neville’s Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher has pinned the blame on the club’s poor goalkeeper and centre-back recruitment.
Current ETV
João Pedro
F, M, AM (C)
Chelsea
João Pedro
F, M, AM (C)
Chelsea
ETV Range
€55.1M - €67.3M
However, the former Manchester United defender also believes Chelsea have spent poorly in attack.
“I have to say, they [Chelsea] look well short for me, still, up front,” he admitted on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“For all the money that they’ve spent, and I know they’ve got good players, he’s got [Liam] Delap and Joao Pedro, who’s a good player. But they’re still not at that level, where you think that they’re nothing like [Erling] Haaland, or [Alexander] Isak or even [Hugo] Ekitike for that matter.”
Is Gary Neville wrong about Joao Pedro?
While Chelsea have undoubtedly spent poorly in a number of positions since the club’s ownership changed hands in 2022, Pedro has certainly been one of the Blues’ better acquisitions.
The Brazil international made an immediate impact at the Club World Cup - notching three goals in three games en route to victory - while the aforementioned Haaland (six) is the only player to have registered more goal contributions than Pedro (five) in the Premier League so far this season.
In total, Pedro has five goals and three assists in nine appearances for Chelsea and his €63.7 million transfer fee now potentially looks like a bargain when considering the prices paid for Nick Woltemade and Benjamin Sesko this summer.
He may not be as prolific as Haaland, or even Isak, but Pedro has already proven to be an excellent signing and there are certainly other players who deserve far harsher criticism for their form at Chelsea.
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