Chelsea’s summer so far has seen them add a few bits and pieces here and there – some useful squad players and young talents.
But they still haven’t nailed down the striker or the elite right winger they apparently want. Their focus for now seems to be on selling one or two more first team players, before they really get stuck into this year’s premium buys.
One player who we’re starting to see linked with the Blues is Pedro Neto of Wolves, who all the top teams are apparently looking at. CaughtOffside say that we’ve joined the race for the Portugal international, with Spurs and Newcastle in the mix, and Liverpool having long been linked.
Wolves have apparently set a £60m asking price, and it’s hard to see him going for much less. Despite some injuries here and there, Neto has racked up 14 goals and 24 assists in 135 games in all competitions for Wolves.
Portugal star fits Chelsea’s needs
There’s no denying that Neto fits our needs nicely. He’s an explosive right sided attacker with an eye for goal, and he’s still just 24. He fits our model perfectly except for one thing – he’s already an established Premier League player, valued at €55m by TransferMarkt.
Our model wants to buy players whose value will go up, and Neto’s is probably peaking now, unless he has another whole level to go to. If they baulked at the price and the wages demanded by long term target Michal Olise, it’s hard to see them paying as much (or more) for the Portugal international.
But if a slew of unwanted players are shifted from our books this summer and space and budget created – don’t rule anything out. The sporting directors could yet surprise us.
