Chelsea vs Manchester City was a game plenty of Wolves fans tuned into on Sunday purely to see how Pedro Neto would get on.
Neto left the club on August 11, joining Chelsea in a deal that will eventually be worth £54 million.
That is a club record sale for Wolves, eclipsing the £53 million received from Manchester City for Matheus Nunes.
It was with a heavy heart that Wolves fans bid farewell to Neto. He signed for the club five years ago from Braga and really lit up the Premier League at times for the Old Gold.
He did spend a fair bit of time out injured. But there was no denying Neto’s quality when he was fit and firing.
Matt Hobbs recently claimed Neto did not particularly want to leave Wolves – it was more a case of not being able to pass up an opportunity.
On Sunday he made his debut for Chelsea against Manchester City, and here’s how he got on.
Pedro Neto enjoys decent debut for Chelsea following £54m Wolves exit
Enzo Maresca has a massive pool of players at the moment.
Chelsea have been splashing a lot of cash since acquiring new owners in May 2022, with many criticising their approach to transfers.
On Sunday, Maresca was forced to leave a number of high-profile players out, such as Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah, Axel Disasi and Conor Gallagher.
But Neto obviously did make the squad, starting from the bench.
The 24-year-old received the call from Maresca just before the hour mark, replacing Christopher Nkunku.
Games do not come much harder than Manchester City home or away, but Neto looked decent against the reigning Premier League champions after he came on.
Going up against Rico Lewis, he didn’t get too much joy and finished the game with an xG of just 0.04 (via Sofascore). However, he was very tidy on the ball, completing all 16 of his attempted passes. At one point, he did get to the byline and put a good ball into the box that Enzo Fernandez couldn’t quite reach.
But Neto had zero shots on target, with one being blocked.
There was a moment in the second half when it looked like he was going to score at the back post after a ball across from Fernandez, only for Lewis to clear the ball away in the nick of time.
But overall football.london were enthused by his display. They gave him a 7/10 for his display, saying: “Looked really bright. Immediately involved. Exciting player.”
Neto could thrive for Chelsea
Chelsea have many players on the books at the moment.
But in terms of their wingers, few have really impressed in recent times. Cole Palmer plays more in the middle now, but the likes of Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke have left a lot to be desired.
There is a good opportunity for Neto to earn a starting place early doors – and Wolves fans will back him to do that.
The Molineux faithful knows full well how good he can be, and many will hope that he realises his incredible potential.
The key with him will obviously be to stay fit, with his injury record having not been very good up to this point in his career.