Chelsea are in the midst of finalising the signing of Joao Pedro from Brighton.
The Blues reached an agreement of around £55million with the Seagulls for the Brazil international on Sunday. Joao Pedro is set to sign a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge after a breakthrough was made between the two clubs. Brighton gave the 23-year-old forward permission to fly from Brazil to the United States on Sunday to finalise his move.
Joao Pedro will become a Chelsea player officially in the coming days, with the Blues aiming to register their new signing before Thursday’s FIFA deadline for players to be added to the Club World Cup squad. Chelsea take on Palmeiras in Philadelphia on Friday evening and will be hoping the Brazilian can make his debut.
The Blues have been chasing a versatile attacking option this summer and Joao Pedro has been identified as the perfect candidate. Since moving from Watford to Brighton in 2023, the attacker has scored 30 goals and provided 10 assists in 70 matches across all competitions. While he has a more-than-decent return in front of goal, Joao Pedro offers something else as well.
Since the start of the 2023/24 season, Joao Pedro has won nine penalties – proving to be an extremely tricky customer inside the box and one that defenders dread when closing in on goal. Chelsea won five spot kicks throughout the 2024/25 Premier League season – the seventh highest in the division – but having someone like Joao Pedro could help even more in that regard.
Learn more
The FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 of the world’s best club teams including Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich play across 63 games from June 14-July 13.
Fans can watch every match live and for free by signing up to DAZN.
Joao Pedro has been Brighton’s go-to penalty taker, though things may well be different at Stamford Bridge. Cole Palmer is the man who takes responsibility from 12 yards for the Blues. Palmer will be extremely happy if his soon-to-be teammate Joao Pedro can continue being so difficult to stop in the box when he is playing for Chelsea.
If it was not clear already, Joao Pedro’s imminent arrival surely spells the end of Christopher Nkunku’s two-year stay at Chelsea. Profile-wise, Nkunku and Joao Pedro are very similar; in terms of being extremely versatile and offering Enzo Maresca an option in virtually every position across the attacking line.
Nkunku is looking to depart Stamford Bridge this summer, football.london understands, as he looks for regular first team football ahead of the World Cup next year. Chelsea will not stand in the Frenchman’s way should they receive the right offer in the coming months. Bayern Munich showed an interest in January but that has cooled since. Manchester United also approached Chelsea earlier in the year regarding Nkunku.
The issue for Nkunku this season has been the presence of Palmer. Maresca sees Nkunku as a No.10 mainly, although he has played in various different positions, which has led to limited game time. Depending on where Maresca sees Joao Pedro, there could be a similar problem on the horizon.
However, Chelsea are looking to compete on four fronts next season following their qualification for the Champions League and that means they will need to call on Joao Pedro consistently throughout the campaign.
