Very excited - Enzo Maresca explains what makes Pedro Neto special

Chelsea winger Pedro Neto (Credit: Chelsea)

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Enzo Maresca is excited about Chelsea's latest signing Pedro Neto (Credit: Chelsea)

Very excited - Enzo Maresca explains what makes Pedro Neto special

Seye Omidiora 20:32 - 11.08.2024

Chelsea announced the wide attacker’s arrival on Sunday, and the club’s Italian manager is looking forward to working with the 24-year-old.

Enzo Maresca is pleased with Chelsea ’s acquisition of Pedro Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the Blues announcing the winger’s signing on Sunday afternoon

Neto joins Chelsea

The 24-year-old joined the West London club in a deal worth €60million (£51.4m; $65.5m) plus €3m in potential bonuses on a seven-year contract, signalling the Blues’ intent to keep strengthening their already bloated squad ahead of the 2024-25 season. 

Pedro Neto
Chelsea's new signing Pedro Neto (Credit: Chelsea)

Despite the criticism thrown at Chelsea for their never-ending spending sprees, Maresca has pointed out why Neto could improve his team’s options in the forthcoming campaign. 

“I’m very excited, he can offer many things,” said Maresca about the winger. “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.”

Enzo Maresca
Enzo Maresca made his Chelsea bow at Stamford Bridge against Inter Milan (Credit: Chelsea)

Maresca was speaking after Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Serie A champions Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge, with Lesley Ugochukwu sparing the London club’s blushes with a late equaliser to cancel out Marcus Thuram’s first-half goal

The Italian boss was pleased with his side’s performance against last season’s Scudetto winners, shedding light on the continued improvement. 

“Once again today we created six or seven clear chances. We just scored one but it is important to create chances and for sure we are going to score more,” said Maresca after Chelsea’s draw with Inter.

“Then, apart from the goal we conceded when we made a small mistake, off the ball, the team was very aggressive in recovery and closing down the ball.

“Absolutely we can see clear results from our work. Today we could see that we tried to keep the ball. Inter are special at defending, but for sure the team is already doing well.”

What comes next?

Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign against Manchester City on Sunday, August 18, at Stamford Bridge.