This Chelsea player has fought off the competition and made himself undisputed number one after a year | OneFootball

It’s the 7th day in July – time to check out how our number 7 is getting on this month.

It’s been an awful week for Pedro Neto, following the tragic death of his close friend Diogo Jota.

The winger was given a day off training following the horrific news on Thursday, but then returned to the team on Friday night to face Palmeiras. Neto brought out a shirt pre-game featuring the name of Jota and his brother André in their honour.

WATCH Chelsea vs. Fluminense in the Club World Cup semi finals for free on any device with DAZN.

Neto shows performances levelling up in

Pedro Neto celebrates scoring against Benfica. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

That awful news has overshadowed what should have been a glorious trip to the USA for Neto. Not only have Chelsea made it to the semi finals, he has personally had an excellent tournament, scoring goals and showing continued improvements on what we saw in his debut season at the club

His pace and acceleration add a different dimension to an attack which can otherwise be quite slow and considered, and his work rate and concentration in pressing is clearly also valued by Enzo Maresca, who has trusted him more and more through the course of their shared year together at Stamford Bridge.

How new movements could affect Neto

Neto has a clear run this season. Jadon Sancho and Mykhailo Mudryk are out of the picture and strong rumours are linking Noni Madueke with Arsenal. Neto has pretty much seen off the competition, and is on course to be the only senior winger on the books next season. There will be spicy competition in the form of the likes of Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian, but the Portugal star will be Enzo Maresca’s main man, at least to start the season.