Joao Pedro will join Chelsea from Brighton for more than £50 million. If the Brazilian striker completes the medical examination procedures this week, he can immediately fly to the US to practice with his new teammates when The Blues have entered the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
After Jamie Gittens, the addition of Joao Pedro will increase Chelsea's total number of attacking stars to 8. However, the 23-year-old star has characteristics that the remaining 7 people do not have, expected to bring many tactical options to coach Enzo Maresca.
With what he has shown, Joao Pedro can play as a striker, a striker or an attacking midfielder. His tendencies are left-sided and this could make Chelsea's attack more perfect. Not only that, Pedro has the ability to regain the ball very well, something that not many attacking players can do and that is something Maresca is very hungry for.
Nicolas Jackson is a target striker, possibly the center of balls towards the opponent's penalty area. Meanwhile, Liam Delap is very good at stretching the opponent's defense. As for Joao Pedro, although he is not as good as Jackson and Delap with the above skills, if he needs a star who knows how to progress the ball and coordinate well with Delap or Jackson, Pedro is capable of making the opponent's defense sweat.
Joao Pedro's scoring rate (excluding penalties) is only 0.22 goals/match. Chelsea understand this and have also decided not to buy Pedro in the hope of becoming a goalscorer. That task belongs to Delap and Jackson, and Pedro will support to increase performance.
Joao Pedro could be the one to connect the midfield and attack, looking for players to run ahead and attract the opposing centre-backs, thereby creating space for his teammates to exploit. The appearance of Joao Pedro shows that Enzo Maresca is looking for players with technical qualities to soften the attack and create more flexibility between lines.
Instead of playing purely counter-attacking, Joao Pedro will help Chelsea get the ball through 1/3 of the opponent's pitch, while still having a "number 9" holding the ball and making decisive passes in the important area. This is the playing style of Roberto Firmino during his peak years at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.
Enzo Maresca has studied Joao Pedro's playing style very carefully at Brighton and decided to bring the Brazilian star to Stamford Bridge. With the speed and ability to operate widely such as Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Tyrique George and Jamie Gittens, not to mention Marc Cucurella's penalty breaks, Joao Pedro could provide an additional option for Chelsea's attack, which is a supplement to Cole Palmer's existing creativity.
There will be many tactical changes as Maresca has up to 8 attacking players in hand. The appearance of Joao Pedro will give the Italian captain a lot of options, promising to bring Chelsea a completely different face in the coming season.
