Newcastle appear to be finally closing in on two top targets, with deals for Anthony Elanga and James Trafford moving closer, but it had been a June full of early setbacks before last night’s breakthrough.
After missing out on Liam Delap to Chelsea and seeing the overly expensive Bryan Mbeumo push to join Man Utd instead, our most recent pursuit involved Joao Pedro.
However, despite suggestions a deal was moving closer, the Brazilian ended up joining Chelsea instead in a deal worth £55m plus £5m in add-ons, with the Blues successfully hijacking our bid for the 23-year-old last weekend.
Today, [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6470071/2025/07/04/inside-joao-pedro-transfer-chelsea/) have released an in-depth piece on what really happened behind the scenes, revealing a few reasons why the former Brighton star opted for Stamford Bridge over St James’ Park – and one of them is a head-scratcher.
According to sources at Newcastle, Pedro felt he had more chance of securing regular game time at Chelsea, despite Eddie Howe’s proposal for him to complement Isak as part of a new-look attack.
At Chelsea, he has a plethora of attackers to compete with. Up top, he’ll be fighting for starts alongside Nicolas Jackson and new signing Liam Delap, who was surely promised lots of game time himself. And if he hopes to play in a slightly deeper role, Cole Palmer has absolutely cemented his spot at No 10, so we can’t see a route to starts there.
Beyond that, Chelsea also have Madueke, Neto, Nkunku, Enzo, Felix, Mudryk, Sterling, George and Guiu battling for attacking positions, along with new £50m winger Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund!
The other key reason is thought to be location, not just because of the ‘London pull’, but because Joao Pedro was already living in the Capital and felt comfortable staying in the same location having settled.
Newcastle still made bids and were the first club to launch an official offer, but it arrived below Brighton’s £60m valuation and there was a feeling on Tyneside that the move ‘never quite felt right’, with Pedro clearly preferring to stay in London.
However, if regular game time and a consistent role in the team is a major factor, I would no be shocked if the South American is left frustrated at Chelsea, especially if they continue to splash the cash on even more attacking talent!