Pedro Neto is reportedly open to joining Liverpool this summer.
A reputable source on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed the update in question, with the Reds still searching for a new right winger.
The Merseysiders have already, apparently, been rebuffed by RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande, and the price tag for Bradley Barcola could prove prohibitive.
We have a few problems with this particular link, but we’ll devote some time to talking up the positives of Liverpool potentially moving for Neto.
First off, it can’t be ignored that the 26-year-old is not only primarily a right-sided winger, but he’s also left-footed – a significant advantage when you consider that both Barcola and Diomande favour their right feet.
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Given the man he’d be replacing in the outgoing Mo Salah (departing a year early), we think it’s worth pointing out that the Portugal international has proven to be relatively durable at Chelsea.
On the other hand, Pedro Neto’s injury record pre-Chelsea will rightly invite a few grimaces from fans, but we have to take consecutive seasons of high availability as a positive in his favour.
Oh, and lastly, he can play across the entire forward line, having made a roughly equal amount of appearances on either flank.
With a contract that doesn’t expire until 2031 (five years remaining), the Blues would be well within their rights to demand a seismic fee for a player they’d ultimately be selling to a rival for a top four spot.
That’s immediately problematic, given the player doesn’t quite carry the same star quality as Yan Diomande or Bradley Barcola.
Yes, we would be bringing in a player on the verge of hitting his peak years in football, and it’s not unreasonable to suggest that Liverpool and Iraola could get a better tune out of the former Wolves man.
But hey, if Neto is as keen to make the switch to L4 as some suggest, perhaps some encouragement from the player’s camp could lead Chelsea to lower their potential asking price.
If we’re going down the route of imagining the forward in our front three, the Portuguese star’s stats from the 2025/26 season suggest there would be some value to considering him as a target.
* Pedro Neto’s stats from the 2025/26 Premier League season (Fotmob)
Judging solely from the last campaign, you’re not going to get a great deal of goal threat (although we’d expect this to improve under Iraola’s system).
What you will benefit from, however, is Pedro Neto’s creative capabilities. And if we bear in mind for one moment that he’d be serving an elite, world-class striker like Alexander Isak – instead of Joao Pedro or Liam Delap – we have to imagine the Swede will make better use of this skillset.
Neto had Jamie Carragher’s seal of approval back in 2024 – and we know he was scouted at that time – but it remains to be seen whether he’s at all on Liverpool’s agenda this summer.
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@26 years old Liverpool won’t be spending money on him.
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