Newcastle United transfer target Joao Pedro could make his Chelsea debut within days in a major blow for the club.
Newcastle United made a bid for Pedro, who wants to leave Brighton.
Eddie Howe is a big fan of Pedro, having tracked him during his days as a Watford player.
Still, Chelsea are interested in Pedro, and may have moved ahead in the race to sign the Brazilian international.
Pedro has rejected a move to Newcastle, and Fabrizio Romano has now dropped a bombshell in regard to his immediate future.
Joao Pedro pictured looking on during Brighton's Premier League game against Aston Villa.
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
When Joao Pedro could make his Chelsea debut after Newcastle United interest
According to journalist Romano on social media platform X, Chelsea have now booked a medical for Pedro.
That will happen on Tuesday and the hope from Chelsea is that they’ll register him in time to play in the rest of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
Teams competing in the competition have until Thursday July 3, 2025, to register new signings for the tournament.
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Chelsea’s next game in the Club World Cup comes against Palmeiras at 2am BST on Saturday July 5, 2025.
BREAKING: João Pedro to Chelsea, here we go! Agreement done club to club for fee in excess of £50m.
João will travel on Tuesday for medical tests and contract signing, ready for FIFA Club World Cup. pic.twitter.com/9jRLnKvlpF
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 29, 2025
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Joao Pedro the latest player to reject Newcastle United for Chelsea
Toon fans will no doubt be frustrated about seeing Chelsea sign another player Howe was targeting.
Indeed, Liam Delap rejected Newcastle for Chelsea earlier this summer.
Last year, former Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo snubbed Newcastle to join Chelsea.
That means Pedro will likely become the third player to turn down the Magpies in favour of a move to Stamford Bridge.
That is painful. Chelsea are a positional rival within the Premier League, a team Newcastle beat on two out of three occasions across all competitions last season.
They, however, appear to have much more in the way of resource than Newcastle right now.