Last summer, Chelsea managed to sign one player who was once on Manchester United’s radar.
The Blues were very busy in the transfer window, bringing in the likes of Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Marc Guiu.
Felix has not been a success, with the 25-year-old shipped out to AC Milan on loan in February. He has struggled there as well, coming in for criticism from the Italian media. One Italian publication even went as far as to say that no one will miss Felix when he returns to Chelsea.
In contrast, things have gone much better for Neto and Guiu, though the latter has been out injured for a while.
Jose Carvalho Araujo claims Manchester United were interested in Pedro Neto
Neto has been a very impactful player for Chelsea of late, scoring a crucial winner against Fulham last month, but the winger could have joined the Blues’ rivals United earlier in his career.
According to his former youth coach at Braga, Jose Carvalho Araujo, the Red Devils constantly came to watch him.
“We always felt that Pedro was different, he still shows the same fire and passion that he did back then,” Araujo told the Daily Mirror in an interview.
“There was always a Manchester United scout, Vasco Noronha, hanging around Braga and at the time, we never really knew who he was watching but it was probably Pedro. His rise was so fast and everybody was always talking about him. He was a very humble kid, very funny and he was always having fun.”
As well as netting in the west London derby victory over Fulham, Neto also provided an assist in Chelsea’s 3-1 win against Liverpool at the start of the month. The Portuguese has found form at just the right time for the Blues.
Chelsea fans were really impressed with Neto’s display versus the Premier League champions, and they will now be hoping for a similar performance when their side take on Nottingham Forest.
If Neto can inspire Chelsea to victory, then he will find himself playing Champions League football next season.
Jose Carvalho Araujo shares how he discovered Pedro Neto
At Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Neto has proved that he is an extremely talented wide man.
That talent is not something new, though, with Araujo spotting it when the Portugal international was at one of Sporting Lisbon’s academies.
In the same interview, Araujo said: “Benfica, Porto and Sporting had academies all across the country. At Braga we had a strategy where every weekend, the youth coaches would pick one or two matches to look at players.
“I went to Viana do Castelo, a town about 50km away from Braga to watch a Sporting academy game. I was looking at an old player I knew and saw Pedro, a kid that was captain of an U15 team despite only being 13.
“He was super talented, ambitious and easy to spot because he stood out. He showed courage, technique and intensity, the best player on the team.”
All in all, with where United are right now, Neto will just be glad that he ended up at Stamford Bridge and not Old Trafford.
