Chelsea fans have been discussing Pedro Neto ahead of the upcoming fixture against Ajax, and they’ve reached the same conclusion.
The Blues return to action in the Champions League on Wednesday night, hosting Dutch giants Ajax at Stamford Bridge.
So far in Europe this season, Enzo Maresca’s side suffered a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich before winning 1-0 at home to Benfica. They certainly still have plenty of work to do in the league phase of the competition.
Pedro Neto, 25, started both of Chelsea’s Champions League matches this campaign. In fact, the Portuguese winger has appeared in every single one of the club’s games so far in the 2025-26 season.
Competition Appearances (Starts) Goals Assists
Premier League 8 (8) 2 1
Champions League 2 (2) 0 0
Carabao Cup 1 (0) 0 0
Last month, Jose Mourinho labelled Neto as one of the world’s best wingers. While we wouldn’t quite put him in that category yet, the speedster offers so much to his team with an incredible and cultured left foot.
Nottingham Forest v Chelsea - Premier League
Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Chelsea supporters urge Enzo Maresca to rest Pedro Neto
Ahead of Chelsea’s European showdown at home to Ajax, fans on X have insisted that head coach Maresca should rest Neto because of his recent workload.
One fan wrote: “Neto should get some rest. Unless he’s necessary later in the game.”
“I think Neto needs to rest and maybe come in second half,” another posted.
Pedro Neto is a dilemma for Ajax.
Ideally, I would start him, as he adds maturity to a young attack. However, he played twice for Portugal and started against Forest despite being a doubt.
He should probably be on the bench, and enter only if struggling at HT
What do we think? pic.twitter.com/8Rn93YZFSt
— Tom Overend (@tovers98) October 21, 2025
View Tweet
One supporter claimed: “I love Neto but it’s a long season… He’s been playing almost every game for club and country, and the boy needs to rest.”
“Truth is some rotations will happen and I see Neto getting rested as he had issues days before the last game,” another said.
Neto, who’s a regular starter for the Portugal national side as well, appears to be firmly over his previous injury problems because he’s been non-stop since he joined Chelsea nearly 15 months ago.
Even though Neto belongs in Chelsea’s strongest front four, it might not be a bad idea to give him the night off against Ajax.
If he doesn’t play the Blues can still choose from Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho and Estevao Willian to start in the wide roles.
Chelsea FC v SL Benfica - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD2
Photo by Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
Has Pedro Neto been value for money?
It cost Chelsea roughly £54m (BBC) to sign Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2024 summer transfer window.
At the moment, the jury is still out on whether that was a good deal or not.
In 62 Blues appearances across all competitions, he’s scored 11 goals and provided 10 assists. It is a decent but not spectacular return for the talented wide man.
He’s got the potential to be a pivotal figures for Chelsea, especially after emerging as one of the senior figure in his position. If he can sharpen up his end product to be more consistent, he could yet become a super bit of business from Stamford Bridge officials.