Chelsea criticised for Joao Pedro signing: ‘He’s not at that level!’

Gary Neville has criticised Chelsea’s activity in the transfer market yet again and he believes they are still lacking a world-class centre forward.

The Blues suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday evening and Neville’s Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher has pinned the blame on the club’s poor goalkeeper and centre-back recruitment.

However, the former Manchester United defender also believes Chelsea have spent poorly in attack.

“I have to say, they [Chelsea] look well short for me, still, up front,” he admitted on The Gary Neville Podcast.

“For all the money that they’ve spent, and I know they’ve got good players, he’s got [Liam] Delap and Joao Pedro, who’s a good player. But they’re still not at that level, where you think that they’re nothing like [Erling] Haaland, or [Alexander] Isak or even [Hugo] Ekitike for that matter.”

Is Gary Neville wrong about Joao Pedro?

While Chelsea have undoubtedly spent poorly in a number of positions since the club’s ownership changed hands in 2022, Pedro has certainly been one of the Blues’ better acquisitions.

The Brazil international made an immediate impact at the Club World Cup – notching three goals in three games en route to victory – while the aforementioned Haaland (six) is the only player to have registered more goal contributions than Pedro (five) in the Premier League so far this season.

In total, Pedro has five goals and three assists in nine appearances for Chelsea and his €63.7 million transfer fee now potentially looks like a bargain when considering the prices paid for Nick Woltemade and Benjamin Sesko this summer.

He may not be as prolific as Haaland, or even Isak, but Pedro has already proven to be an excellent signing and there are certainly other players who deserve far harsher criticism for their form at Chelsea.

Football transfer news headlines today

Chelsea ‘won’t win Premier League in 100 years’ with these three players

Cole Palmer gets transfer wish after harsh criticism

Chelsea forced to announce 2026 signing due to bizarre reason

Fabrizio Romano Transfer News: Messi latest, Baleba update, Trent worries

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