Pedro Neto had mixed reviews from his first season at Chelsea, but pre-season has started strongly for the former Wolves star.
As expected, Wolves sold Neto during the summer of 2024, bidding farewell to another top performer.
The Old Gold have become accustomed to moving key players on after impressive campaigns, and for Neto, it’s fair to say that the time was right.
Wolves secured a good deal by offloading Neto to Chelsea for £54m, as being an incredibly injury-prone player made his future market value impossible to predict.
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Enzo Maresca denied Pedro Neto a career first
Chelsea fans were unconvinced by Neto during his first season at Stamford Bridge, but the winger has shown his commitment to improve ahead of 2025/26.
At the Club World Cup, Neto wowed fans by scoring in the Blues’ opening two games of the tournament, netting impressive goals against LA Galaxy and Flamengo.
The Portugal international was never known for his goalscoring pedigree at Wolves, scoring only 14 times over five seasons, but at the Club World Cup, it appeared that a page was turning.
As Chelsea faced Esperance Tunis in their final game of the group stage, Neto had the chance to do something for the first time in his domestic career: score in three consecutive games.
The 25-year-old never completed the feat at Wolves and, unfortunately, was unable to do so on this occasion, as Enzo Maresca denied the winger the opportunity.
Neto was an unused substitute against Esperance as Maresca rotated his side, prolonging the former Wolf’s wait to score in successive games.
During his time at Wolves, Neto only managed to score in back-to-back Premier League games once, scoring against Southampton and then Arsenal during the 2020/21 campaign.
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Neto needs to add goals to his game
In isolated positions when one-on-one with a defender, there are few in the Premier League better than Neto.
That being said, there’s a lot that currently separates the former Wolves ace from being very good and elite, with one of the standout elements being goals.
| Season | Appearances | Goals |
| 2019/20 | 29 | 3 |
| 2020/21 | 31 | 5 |
| 2021/22 | 13 | 1 |
| 2022/23 | 18 | 0 |
| 2023/24 | 20 | 2 |
Neto’s highest-scoring Premier League season at Wolves was 2020/21, scoring five times in 31 appearances.
There is a sign of improvement, as in his debut campaign for Chelsea, the winger found the net eight times, but only on four occasions in the league.
Adding goals to his game will only see Neto’s status in European football extend, but it only reinforces how smart Wolves were to cash in on the player for a luxury fee.