“Those two aspects…” – Former coach names best features of £50m signing’s game | OneFootball

Chelsea this week completed the deal to sign Joao Pedro from Brighton, leading to a lot of profiles on the Brazil international and what he might bring to the table. A lot of the focus so far has been about his ability as a technical link up player and a hard working presser.

The comparisons to Roberto Firmino are very fair, and it’s a good summary of his style. But it does probably understate his shooting ability a little too.

Joao Pedro’s finishing may be underrated by common perception

Joao Pedro completes Chelsea move. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Looking at the quotes the Athletic picked up from one of his youth coaches back in 2020 shows that he definitely has some exceptional qualities in front of goal, and hopefully has just been limited by playing for teams which don’t tend to score as many as Chelsea overall.

“He dedicated himself completely. Every single shot he took was on target. That really caught my eye, because it’s not easy to be so efficient in front of goal,” Eduardo Oliveira said of his former youth player at Fluminense in Brazil.

“One thing I worked on with him was reading the goalkeeper. He would shoot in a way that took the goalkeeper out of the equation. He always had great concentration during those individual drills. His competitiveness shone through. He had a real will to win and he was able to transfer that to the other players. Those two aspects of his game — the finishing ability and the positive influence his attitude had on the group — were what impressed me. He was determined to improve.”

JP signing makes more and more sense

So not only a good finisher but a great trainer and someone with immense drive to improve themselves. That’s what we like to hear. This signing makes more and more sense.