Joao Pedro has earned a lot of plaudits for his performances this season. He is drawing interest from FC Barcelona as well. And Chelsea do not seem open to letting him go under any circumstances after the Brazilian forward has scored 23 goals and provided nine assists in his debut campaign for the Blues so far.
Under these circumstances, you would think it would be a no-brainer for Pedro to be on the plane to the United States this summer to represent Brazil at the World Cup. Yet, when Carlo Ancelotti named his squad, there was a surprise for most, as the Chelsea striker had been left out.
Let’s be honest, the likes of Matheus Cunha and Endrick have not had a better season than Pedro. One could make an argument for Igor Thiago, but then the Chelsea striker has outscored him if you take out penalties and his overall game is a lot more flexible.
A lot of fans had expected Pedro to be the starting number 9 for Brazil this summer. Instead, he is not even in the squad. Not many would have seen that coming. And Pedro posted a very professional message after the news broke. He wrote on his Instagram:
I tried to give my best at all times. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to fulfill this dream of representing my country in a World Cup, but I remain calm and focused, as I always try to be. Joys and frustrations are part of football. From now on, I wish good luck to everyone who is there and I will be just another fan cheering for them to bring the sixth title home.
Joao Pedro posts classy message but could this impact how he views his Chelsea future?
That message from Pedro is as classy as it gets. But internally, one would imagine that it has come as a blow. This tournament comes around every four years. He has had an excellent campaign and was not even considered good enough to be part of the World Cup squad for what is not the strongest Brazil side.
Pedro must be thinking what more he could have done. And one has to wonder if this snub is going to have any sort of impact on his future at Chelsea.
Barcelona seem to be interested. Would he have been part of that World Cup squad if he had scored those 23 goals in a Barca shirt? That is not impossible.
Pedro’s shortcomings for Brazil should not be completely overlooked
One aspect that many seem to be overlooking though is that Pedro has never performed outstandingly in a Brazil shirt. In eight appearances for his national team, he has never scored.
That could very easily have been the core reason behind this snub. Ancelotti might have felt that Pedro simply does not suit his system and gone for players that he does.
At the end of the day, Ancelotti is one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. It is very hard to argue with his decisions. Let’s see how Brazil do at this World Cup and then we can decide whether he got it completely wrong or not.
Sourav Mahanty
Sourav Mahanty has covered teams like Chelsea, Celtic, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG and more over a career that has now lasted a decade. His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, SB Nation, FanSided, The Sportster and aggregated through Bleacher Report and NewsNow. Outside of football, he is also interested in basketball, cricket and professional wrestling.
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