Cole Palmer snubbed! Summer signing described as ‘the face of Chelsea’

Joao Pedro has been described as “the face of Chelsea” by former midfielder Oscar following his fantastic start to life at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro, 24, arrived at the club from Brighton & Hove Albion for €63.7 million in July and he has already racked up five goals and three assists in 11 competitive appearances for the Blues.

The Brazil international is, however, without a goal contribution in his last four matches and he was sent off during Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday night after receiving two yellow cards following his introduction as a second-half substitute.

Despite this, Oscar, who played 203 times for Chelsea across a four-and-a-half year spell in west London, has heaped praise on his compatriot during an appearance on The Obi One Podcast.

When asked whether Pedro is the correct man to lead Chelsea’s attack, Oscar told former team-mate John Obi Mikel: “I think he is. He had already been in the Premier League so he knows how to score goals.

“It’s difficult to score goals in the small teams in the Premier League and he scored a lot of goals for Brighton. Now in Chelsea, every game he is there, he’s scoring goals.

“He’s strong. He can score with the head and the feet. I like him. I like the way he plays. I think he is the player who is the face of Chelsea. He fights. He has a good personality.”

Oscar heaps praise on Estevao

Meanwhile, Oscar has also provided his verdict on fellow Brazil international Estevao Willian, who joined Chelsea from Palmeiras in July.

“He’s good. He has the dribbling. He likes to score goals. He has a lot of talent,” Oscar admitted.

“Need to give him time and give him time to adapt in Europe. It’s not easy to arrive there. I think he goes to one of the best teams in Europe, so let’s see what happens in these next two or three years.”

Estevao became the youngest player to ever register a Premier League assist for Chelsea during their 5-1 win over West Ham United in August, and Enzo Maresca has recently admitted that the Brazilian reminds him of Cole Palmer.

Football transfer news headlines today

Garnacho gets Chelsea welcome gift from UEFA after Champions League clash

Chelsea ‘AGREE’ Enzo Fernandez swap deal

Enzo Maresca confirms Chelsea’s long-term Cole Palmer replacement

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store