Wenger and Guardiola love this “incredible player” who Chelsea stole from Liverpool and Spurs | OneFootball

Matt Law’s Telegraph column this week is all about Pedro Neto, which makes sense.

The attacker has been the centre of attention at Chelsea in recent weeks as his move to play up front in the absence of Nicolas Jackson has paid instant dividends.

A goal and two assists since moving up top have basically secured him the role until Jackson’s return, and he will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing a dire Leicester team on Sunday.

The piece is full of interesting snippets about Neto’s arrival at Chelsea last summer. What appeared to be a pretty simple transfer from our perspective actually had a lot going on behind the scenes. Neto apparently was very close to a move to Liverpool, and would have gone to Anfield had Mo Salah left for Saudi Arabia.

Tottenham also “tracked Neto last summer,” and could have secured him if Chelsea hadn’t made the decisive €63m move.

Neto has big name admirers

Pedro Neto smashes in a left foot shot. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Law’s article also points out how many big name admirers Neto has had in his career – he quotes Pep Guardiola who called the Portugal star “an incredible player,” with Mikel Arteta and Arsene Wenger also named as fans.

If those 3 think you’re good and the Liverpool scouting department want you, that’s some impressive backing.

There’s also a lot of explanation about the fitness plan he’s been put on to keep away the persistent injury issues which troubled him in his years at Wolves.

Law speculates that he will be Chelsea’s backup striker between now and the end of the season – if he keeps scoring and Jackson keeps struggling once he returns, Neto may even go one better than that. Chelsea think that he can score 15 plus goals regularly, and a strong finish to this season will see him add to his current tally of 5.