Beyond his clinical hat-trick at Villa Park, Joao Pedro has emerged as Chelsea’s ultimate dressing-room glue who refuses to shy away from the spotlight during the club’s toughest moments.
Chelsea already had plans to look at a striker signing during the summer transfer window, with Liam Delap’s future under scrutiny already.
However, Joao Pedro is slowly starting to fill the number nine void that many Chelsea fans thought was at Stamford Bridge, scoring 17 goals this season already.
Pedro is even on target to surpass Diego Costa’s two 20-goal tallies during their title-winning seasons, which shows just how well he’s done of late. Eight goals since Rosenior was appointed.
And that’s not all he’s been doing at Chelsea, with his influence growing by the day behind the scenes.
Enzo Maresca hang your head in shame 😬
Was he the problem?
Enzo Maresca's prediction about Joao Pedro was wrong
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Joao Pedro picks up new responsibilities at Chelsea
According to BBC Sport, Joao Pedro has been influential behind the scenes.
Chelsea have been impressed with Joao Pedro’s influence behind the scenes. He has acted as a mentor to young Brazilian pair Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos, having moved to England seven years ago to join Watford as a teenager.
He has also volunteered for media duties after difficult defeats and has helped bridge dressing‑room divides, befriending English, Spanish, and French‑speaking team-mates.
We already knew that Estevao, Santos and Pedro were close, but to see the latter branch out from his normal group to have a wider influence is very encouraging.
BARGAIN: How much is Joao Pedro worth now? 🔥
Chelsea paid £60m last summer.
Targets Joao Pedro needs to set his sights on
To cement his status, Joao Pedro’s primary target must be consistency. While his 10-goal explosion under Liam Rosenior is incredible, the challenge now is to join the 30-goal club across a full campaign, a feat no Chelsea striker has achieved in the Premier League era since Didier Drogba.
Maintaining this strike rate while navigating the physical toll of a potential Champions League run next season will be the ultimate test of his durability.
Beyond personal tallies, Pedro must aim to become Chelsea’s ultimate big-game player. While his hat-trick against Villa was impressive, replicating that in upcoming fixtures against Manchester City and Liverpool will silence any lingering narratives.
Internationally, he should target a starting role for Brazil at the 2026 World Cup.
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