Manchester City need to improve their station, if their performance in the Community Shield is anything to go by. Suffering an embarrassing 3-0 beating at the hands of Arsenal, the Sky Blues are looking to make improvements to their squad.
To this end, City have identified a certain Portuguese World Cup star to bolster their ranks. No, not Cristiano Ronaldo – the Citizens have Chelsea ace Pedro Neto in their sights.
However, their efforts to bring him on board appear to have hit something of a speed bump in recent days. Now, a new club have joined the race.
According to a report from transfer specialist Ben Jacobs [via TalkSPORT], Saudi Pro League outfit Al Hilal are amongst Neto’s potential suitors. They already have a pair of Portuguese stars on their books – Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo – and are looking to create a triumvirate by signing Neto.
Furthermore, according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri on his official X (formerly Twitter) page, Al Hilal have already ‘reached an agreement’ on personal terms with Neto’s representative. They haven’t agreed terms with Chelsea to sign him yet, but nonetheless, time could swiftly be running out.
On top of this, according to TransferFeed, teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur could also make a move.
Chelsea value Neto at £70 million, so any club wishing to snap him up will need to shell out a sizable wedge of money. This could be an issue for the Premier League teams in the mix, but Al Hilal will likely have no issues with throwing around such enormous finances.
Pedro Neto 2025/26 Premier League stats
Games Goals Assists
P. Neto 34 5 6
Pedro Neto 2026 World Cup stats
Games Goals Assists
P. Neto 5 0 1
What would Pedro Neto bring to Manchester City?
On the face of it, this might seem like an underwhelming transfer for a club of City’s stature. They already have a selection of elite wingers in their squad and Neto hasn’t been in scintillating form over the last eight months.
However, of the 11 G/A that Neto accumulated last season, eight of them came under the stewardship of Enzo Maresca, City’s new head coach. Clearly, he seems to know how to get the best out of the 26-year-old.
While he has been accused of being a ‘safety-first’ attacking player, often unwilling to take on his man or whip a cross into the box, this sort of approach fits neatly into Maresca’s possession-based style of play.
Right now, City only have one right winger on their books – Antoine Semenyo. Neto is a very adaptable attacking player, being able to play on either wing or as an out-and-out striker, but he excels most on the right.
Being left-footed, playing on that particular flank allows him to cut inside and exploit the half-spaces, but his two-footedness also means he can run down the channels if the opportunity presents itself. To this end, he can be very unpredictable and difficult to defend against when in full flow.