Chelsea winger Pedro Neto’s next club is “most likely” to be Al-Hilal, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said that Man City and Tottenham have also shown interest in the Portuguese international, but those deals are currently off the table:
“Manchester City spoke to the agent of Pedro Neto, but Manchester City are not advancing because of this reason: the valuation made by Chelsea is considered too high.”
“For Pedro Neto, I would keep an eye on two [other] solutions. The first one, the most likely, could be Al Hilal because Al-Hilal are about to say goodbye to Malcom. He scored over the weekend, but he’s expected to go in the next hours to another Saudi club, Al-Diriyah. And so, Pedro Neto is a target for Al-Hilal for sure.”
“And then another possibility is Tottenham. But for Tottenham, I keep telling you guys, Savinho and Gakpo… plus a centre striker. So this is the idea at Tottenham. So Pedro Neto is a backup in case something happens for Savinho, something happens for Gakpo. Pedro Neto is a backup, but he’s not the top priority.”
Neto has “reached an agreement” with Al-Hilal
Romano’s comments come off the back of claims made by another journalist, Sacha Tavolieri, who says that the winger has already agreed personal terms ahead of a switch to the Middle East:
“Al Hilal have reached an agreement with Pedro Neto on personal terms! Chelsea FC now open to sell Neto and would want around €60M to let him leave.”
There are some questions about the accuracy of Tavolieri’s report, though, most notably the transfer fee. If City have been scared off by the price, Chelsea are likely to be demanding more than €60m/£51m, although they might be willing to sell him for a lower amount abroad.
Chelsea are set to offload several other players
There remain doubts about the future of Enzo Fernandez despite the Friday deadline having passed. Romano is among those who believes that City could still make a move for the midfielder.
Nicolas Jackson, Tosin Adarabioyo and Liam Delap also have their suitors, while Benoit Badiashile, Marc Guiu and Dario Essugo may leave on loan prior to September 1st.