Newcastle United had made Joao Pedro one of their top summer transfer targets but Chelsea are now growing increasingly confident of winning the race for the Brazil international
Joao Pedro
Joao Pedro
Chelsea are stepping up their efforts to sign Newcastle United target Joao Pedro.
ChronicleLive has confirmed that Brighton have turned down bids from Newcastle and Chelsea for the Brazil international.
Chelsea, however, are growing increasingly confident of winning the race and the Blues are expected to increase their offer as Brighton hold out for a fee in excess of £60m.
Newcastle are in a much-improved financial position to sign a player like Pedro this summer - having already tabled a bid worth around £50m - but the Magpies will still have to be smart to strengthen several areas of the side.
Chelsea, in contrast, have a long history of eventually meeting Brighton's demands, whether it is coughing up £115m for Moises Caicedo, £60m for Marc Cucurella or, even, £21m to bring in former boss Graham Potter and his staff.
Chelsea's greater income streams have also enabled the Blues to pay sizeable wages for other Newcastle targets like Liam Delap and Tosin Adarabioyo in the last year or so.
Chelsea, for context, spent £337.8m on salaries in 2023-24 - which was more than Newcastle's overall revenue (£320.3m).
Chelsea, like Newcastle, can also offer Champions League football while Pedro has been settled in the south since leaving his homeland for Watford in 2020.
It was during Pedro's time at Watford that Newcastle first attempted to sign the Brazilian and ChronicleLive reported that discussions were 'moving well' at one stage but, crucially, they were 'not closed'.
Callum Wilson went on to suffer a hamstring issue, which changed Newcastle's immediate focus slightly, and the Magpies instead completed a club-record move for Alexander Isak.
Pedro went on to join Brighton in 2023 and the versatile forward has continued to develop on the South Coast as Seagulls striker coach Bobby Zamora explained over the weekend.
"Joao is hungry," he said. "He wants to be playing for Brazil, he wants to be playing for that national side and to be in that elite, you have to be playing week in, week out in the Premier League and scoring goals.
"Joao certainly has the capabilities. A fantastic player, a massive talent, and I'm sure there's more to come from him."
Pedro would face particularly intense competition for a starting berth at Chelsea, who have a plethora of forwards, but that has not put the 23-year-old off if an agreement is reached between the clubs.