Chelsea’s Pedro Neto was part of a Portugal side that beat Germany on Wednesday night to book their spot in the Nations League final.
Even though the 2024/25 season is over, it’s looking like an extremely busy summer for most Chelsea players. The Blues will begin the Club World Cup tournament in mid-June. Before then, several Chelsea stars are representing their countries in various international competitions.
Pedro Neto, 25, helped Portugal produce a 2-1 comeback victory against Germany in the Nations League semi-final. As a result, they will face Spain or France in Sunday’s final.
Neto enjoyed a decent debut year at Stamford Bridge last season, scoring six goals and providing nine assists in 45 games across all competitions.
Enzo Maresca and Chelsea are delighted with Neto, particularly because he managed to avoid injuries last season despite plenty of issues in the past. He followed it up with another start for Portugal this week on the international stage.
Chelsea wide man Neto received high praise in the Portuguese media after his display in the Nations League.
A Bola wrote: “Pedro Neto – 7/10. A great first half. He came close to scoring twice and was the first to break through a German defence that would prove to be permeable. He was exhausted after 83 minutes.”
Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali pushed to sign Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers last summer, and his £54m signing has been a positive one so far.
Like he shows for both club and country, the rapid winger can be a major offensive threat when he’s in the mood. Most importantly, it looks like he’s much fitter and happier in his body after so many frequent injury interruptions when he was younger.
Pedro Neto statistics against Germany
Even though he didn’t score or assist, Neto looked a threat for Portugal on the left wing in the victory against Germany.
| Minutes played | Total shots | Chances created | Accurate passes | Successul dribbles | Accurate crosses | Touches in opposition box | Match ating |
| 83 | 1 | 1 | 18/21 (86%) | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6.9 |
During his first Chelsea season, Neto has alternated between the left and right wing. He even covered admirably at stages as an emergency striker.
Blues head coach Maresca insists Neto is most effective on the right, where he can drift infield on his favoured right foot.
In fairness, we enjoyed Neto’s display on the left wing this week in the Nations League because he sprinted forwards several times and showed great athleticism. If he can become a bit more consistent with his end product, he could still develop into a top-class forward.
