Chelsea handed welcome boost as Pedro Neto given green light to withdraw from Portugal camp | OneFootball

Pedro Neto will return to Chelsea next week after his withdrawal from the Portugal camp was confirmed.

The 24-year-old was on the scoresheet during Friday's 5-1 thrashing of Poland as his powerful shot found the back of the net in the second half.

Neto has started to find his feet and excel for both club and country, continuing his goalscoring form after bagging the equaliser with a superb strike for Chelsea against Arsenal last weekend.

He has gradually improved his physical condition following injury prior to his summer move to Stamford Bridge, and Neto's being carefully managed by both club and country.

Despite Portugal playing Croatia on Monday in the Nations League, boss Roberto Martinez has made the decision to allow Neto to return to Chelsea early.

Neto scored Portugal's fourth goal against Poland. / IMAGO / NurPhoto

Speaking during his post-match press conference, Martinez revealed which players would be allowed to leave the camp following their confirmed top spot in League A Group 1 in the Nations League.

Martinez said: "In the first stage, we made six changes from one game to the next. It's important for us to be first, and we already are. We need to be competitive to add to the group, it's getting harder and harder to get into the starting eleven. There's a World Cup finals in 18 months.

"The game against Croatia is important, we need to look at other players. We're going to let go of Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes, who is suspended. We're going to call up Fábio Silva and Quenda for the Under-21s."

This will be welcomed by Maresca and the Chelsea medical team back at their Cobham training base ahead of their Premier League clash against Leicester City next weekend.

Neto isn't the only Chelsea player to withdraw from international duty. Filip Jorgensen, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer have all returned to the Blues, ensuring their conditions are managed and no risks are taken.