Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
Arsenal love a Chelsea player, don’t they? Last summer, they signed both Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga from us.
It has now been claimed that the Gunners were interested in signing Joao Pedro before he agreed a new contract at Stamford Bridge.
Unlike Madueke and Kepa, Pedro is indispensable to Chelsea. New contract or not, this was always a non-starter, especially considering how much money Arsenal were reportedly willing to offer for the striker.
Joao Pedro worth more than €100m
According to Brazilian outlet Globo, Arsenal were keen on Pedro and prepared to pay in excess of €100m (£85.5m) for the Brazilian.
In this current market, paying little over £85.5m would never have been enough to secure Pedro’s signature.
One midfielder who did not score a single goal in the Premier League last season has been bought for £100m this summer. Another who got relegated cost £85m.
Joao Pedro of Chelsea
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Pedro is a goalscorer and match-winner. There is no way he can be sold for less than what the likes of Sandro Tonali and Elliot Anderson have gone for.
Thankfully, Chelsea have used some common sense here, ignoring Arsenal’s advances and handing Pedro a new deal.
If Anderson and Morgan Rogers cost almost £120m, Pedro should be valued at that figure minimum. He will win his club more games and points than both Anderson and Rogers.
Chelsea selling Joao Pedro to Arsenal would have ended project
Chelsea have aspirations of winning the Premier League title in the near future. They have signed a plethora of young players with potential with the hope that they will one day develop into world-class footballers who can help the team become English champions. That is the Chelsea project.
Selling Pedro, who is one of the stars of this project, would have completely destroyed it.
Had they sold the Brazil international to Arsenal, they would have allowed one of their best players, who actually looks ready for a title charge, to join one of the clubs standing in their way of achieving glory in the English top flight.