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Fabrizio Romano: Chelsea in talks to sign £30m star for Alonso, he'd be the end for Neto -…

Chelsea have spent a lot of money on players who have not delivered enough quality on the pitch to back up the money spent on them in recent years.

Romeo Lavia for £58m, Christopher Nkunku for £52m, Jamie Gittens for £48.5m, and Mykhailo Mudryk for £62m are just a few such examples.

mykhailo-mudryk-chelsea-premier-league

The Blues will be hoping that the £117m that they have just spent bringing Morgan Rogers to the club from Aston Villa will be better value for money than those aforementioned deals.

One signing that has split opinion in the last couple of years, though, is Pedro Neto, who joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £54m in the summer of 2024.

Why Chelsea should sell Pedro Neto

The Portugal international racked up ten goals and ten assists in all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign, which is an excellent return on paper for a winger.

However, he produced those numbers in a mammoth 52 appearances in all competitions, and four of his goals and two of his assists came in the FA Cup.

The 26-year-old winger has scored nine goals and provided 12 assists in 69 appearances in the Premier League since his move from Wolves, which is solid, yet unspectacular.

Pedro Neto (Premier League) 24/25 25/26

Starts 24 30

xG 3.50 4.62

Goals 4 5

Big chances created 11 12

xA 4.77 6.83

Assists 6 6

Neto has yet to prove that he can deliver consistent quality at the top end of the pitch for the Blues, despite being in what should be the prime years of his career.

Liverpool held talks over a potential deal for the Portuguese flier earlier this month, and Chelsea should take advantage of this opportunity to cash in on him and sell the forward to the Reds in the coming weeks.

Chelsea's Pedro Neto celebrates after the match

His lack of consistency in the final third suggests that the club should move on from Neto so that they can make way for a player who could offer more, as they look to build a team that can compete for the Premier League title.

£30m Chelsea signing could be the end of Pedro Neto

The club are already looking at a player who could arrive at Stamford Bridge as a replacement for the forward, allowing them to sanction an exit.

Fabrizio Romano reports that Chelsea are in ongoing talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal to sign Karim Alajbegovic for Xabi Alonso, after making contact with the German side.

The reporter claims that the Blues are yet to make an official offer for the forward, despite talk of a £34m bid, and that the player has yet to decide where he wants to go, amid interest from Italian teams.

Earlier this week, The Telegraph reported that Chelsea are the favourites to sign the Bosnia international, who is valued at £30m by the Bundesliga outfit.

karim-Alajbegovic-bosnia-world-cup

The Evening Standard claimed that Neto could have to be sold to make room for the club to sign Alajbegovic, which means that a £30m deal for the young forward could spell the end of the Portugal international's career at Stamford Bridge.

Whilst the Bosnian winger is unproven in the Premier League, the 18-year-old attacker's statistics for RB Salzburg in the 2025/26 campaign suggest that he has the potential to be a better option than Neto in the long run.

25/26 Bundesliga Alajbegovic Rank vs LWs

xG 4.67 Top 12%

Shots 88 Top 1%

Goals 9 Top 8%

xA 4.83 Top 4%

Chances created 37 Top 8%

Big chances created 9 Top 6%

Assists 3 Top 30%

The former Salzburg star's percentile rank against fellow wingers in the Austrian top-flight in a host of goalscoring metrics suggests that he could develop into being a consistent scorer for the Blues.

He is a high-volume shooter and efficient goalscorer, whilst also being a prolific creator for his teammates, whilst Neto is an inconsistent goalscorer who has yet to score more than five goals in a single league campaign for the club.

The 18-year-old wing wizard also caught the eye for Bosnia with a stunning goal against Qatar at the World Cup, scoring with one of his four shots at the tournament.

Kerim-Alajbegovic-rb-salzburg

Chelsea have clearly seen enough from him to suggest that he could be a fantastic signing for their squad, given their talks with Leverkusen to sign him, and that is bad news for Neto.

Alajbegovic could come in to replace the former Wolves star and potentially offer more to the team at the top end of the pitch, particularly as a goalscorer, and that is why the Blues should look to sell him to fund a move for the £30m-rated star this summer.

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