Newcastle United look set to miss out on Joao Pedro after Chelsea agreed a deal with Brighton for the Brazil international and Alan Pardew has highlighted the Blues' ability to 'spread the payments'
Joao Pedro
Joao Pedro
Alan Pardew has suggested that former side Newcastle United will be 'absolutely distraught' after Chelsea agreed a deal with Brighton for Joao Pedro.
ChronicleLive reported on Sunday morning that Chelsea were stepping up their efforts to bring in Pedro and growing increasingly confident of doing so.
Chelsea, like Newcastle, had an initial bid rejected, but the Blues went on to strike a deal worth £60m with Brighton.
Pedro is now jetting off to finalise the move and sign a long-term deal with Chelsea, who have the ability to amortise the fee over the first five years of the forward's contract.
"They're going to spread the payments, which, again gets around the rules, etc," former Newcastle boss Pardew told talkSPORT. "A great signing for them.
"I'm a big fan of his. They have got it in time. Wow. I think that's a first-class player and will fit well with all those young players around him. Newcastle will be absolutely distraught about that.
"Chelsea's model is based around young players and young attacking players don't really lose much value so I can see that this is a safe bet for them.
"He's out of contract soon and they have taken him on. This fee looks excessive, but Newcastle wanted him.
"He's established, he can play through the middle, he can play off the side. He gives you great variation so I think he's a great player. It's a big fee but I think he can justify that fee."
Chelsea 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 superior 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, like Newcastle, can offer Champions League football while Pedro has been settled in the south since leaving his homeland for Watford in 2020.
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