The numbers behind João Pedro's season | OneFootball

There's always plenty of speculation about arrivals and departures during the transfer window but one player who looks certain to leave is Brighton & Hove Albion forward João Pedro.

Both Newcastle United and most recently Chelsea have been linked with the 23-year-old former Watford player.

After initially coming through the ranks at Fluminense, João Pedro earned a move to England in 2020 and has impressed both in the Championship and the Premier League.

Disciplinary issues towards the end of the season may have put some suitors off. A red card saw him miss three games after throwing an arm to the face of a Brentford player.

João Pedro reportedly apologies to his teammates following the incident but then was involved in a training ground bust up with Jan Paul van Hecke meant the Brazil international missed the final game of the season.

Despite that, there's plenty of interest in João Paulo and we'll look at some of the key numbers behind his 2024/25 campaign.

Double figures: Despite starting just 23 Premier League games for the Seagulls in the Premier League and only completing the full 90 minutes in 12 matches, João Pedro finished the season as Brighton's joint top scorer. The Seagulls ended the season with three players scoring 10 goals with Danny Welbeck and Kaoru Mitoma the other two.

It may be a small improvement on João Pedro's 23/24 tally (nine goals in 31 games) but the Brazilian did more in fewer minutes in 24/25.

Penalty winner and scorer: Of João Pedro's 10 league goals in 24/25, five of them were penalties. While it may not initially sound great to sign a forward who only bagged five non-penalty goals it is worth remembering that João Pedro is a great penalty taker and also that he won the majority of those penalties.

João Pedro was fouled 46 times in the league with Carlos Baleba the only Brighton player to suffer more fouls (48). That suggests that defences struggle to deal with the forward, particularly as three of those fouls resulted in penalty kicks, which João Pedro naturally bagged.

More than goals:  As well as being the Seagulls joint highest goalscorer, João Pedro finished the season with the most assists for his club six – double his assist figure for 23/24. Those six assists rank João Pedro alongside Matheus Cunha, Bruna Guimarães, and Jérémy Doku – not bad company.

The forward made a total of 72 shot-creating actions for his team with only the mazy winger Mitoma managing more (87). Meanwhile only Georginio Rutter managed more through balls (12) than João Pedro (10).

There is of course, still a long way to go for a player who is still young and yet to reach his prime but it's obvious why a top club would want someone who is proven to be decisive in the Premier League.