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Chelsea complete £51 million signing of Wolves winger Pedro Neto as squad rebuild continues
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Updated 11/08/2024 at 18:55 GMT+1
Chelsea have continued their busy summer under Todd Boehly as Enzo Maresca's squad is rebuilt for the coming season with the addition of Pedro Neto from Wolves. The 24-year-old Portugal international winger impressed in the Premier League last season and he has now moved to Stamford Bridge in a transfer that has widely been reported as worth an initial £51 million, with more potential add-ons.
Pedro Neto
Image credit: Getty Images
Chelsea have completed the signing of Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Pedro Neto in a deal widely reported to be worth an initial £51 million.
The 24-year-old winger had been linked with most of the biggest Premier League sides and top clubs from around Europe after an impressive 2023-24 season.
Neto scored three times in 20 games for Wolves last season and represented Portugal at Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.
In a statement on their official club website, Chelsea wrote: "Chelsea is delighted to announce the signing of Portugal international Pedro Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"Pedro has signed a seven-year contract and will begin training with his new teammates at Cobham in the coming days."
Neto initially joined Wolves in £16m deal from Braga in 2019, for whom he became the club's third-youngest goal scorer of all time when he made his debut at 17 years, two months and five days.
He has previously played for Serie A side Lazio on loan, helping them to victory on the Coppa Italia.
In his five years at Molineux, he bagged 11 Premier League goals in 111 appearances, 36 which came as a substitute.
He also netted on his debut, against Armenian side Pyunik Yerevan in the UEFA Europa League.
But injuries restricted his involvement last season, as a hamstring issue forced him to miss the majority of the final three months of the campaign.
The 24-year-old is now fully fit though, and his new manager Enzo Maresca is delighted that he will be in West London this season.
"I’m very excited, he can offer many things," he said. "He can play on the right side, he can play on the left side, he’s very good one-on-one.
"It is one more option we have because there will be many, many games in the season, so we need a big squad."
Neto has become one of many new arrivals for Chelsea in a typically busy transfer window under Todd Boehly.
"I feel really grateful to have joined this club," said Neto, who was welcomed onto the pitch during Chelsea's friendly against Inter Milan.
"I have worked really hard in my career to be here and I’m looking forward to getting on the pitch with this shirt."
New manager Enzo Maresca has welcomed Aaron Anselmino, Tosin Adarabioyo, Filip Jorgensen, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Omari Kellyman, Marc Guiu and Caleb Wiley.
Indeed, there have been a dozen new arrivals at Stamford Bridge, spending close to £250m in the summer.
That means they have splashed more money than any other Premier League club since the transfer window opened.
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In a statement confirming Neto's departure, Wolves Sporting Director Matt Hobbs described the Portugal international as a "world class winger," adding: "the deal is one that works for us and Pedro."
He continued: “It’s hard when it’s someone who everyone has so much affinity for as a person to look at it as a business, but football is a business and it was the right timing and the right deal, so from that perspective, the football club are happy.
“We’ve been working on options and on targets and that work keeps going. Me and Gary have sat down several times since, but we were sitting down beforehand and talking about it because I think we thought there was a good chance this would happen this summer.”
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