Chelsea star tells fans ‘I am not at my level’ following summer move

Chelsea summer signing Pedro Neto admits he is yet to reach ‘his level’ following a big-money move from Wolves.

The Portugal forward completed a £54m move to Stamford Bridge last month, putting pen to paper on a seven-year deal with the Blues.

Neto spent five mixed years at Wolves in which he became one of the club’s most important players but also regularly struggled with injury issues.

The 24-year-old opened his account for his new club in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup thrashing over League Two side Barrow but believes there is still a lot more to come from him.

Neto missed around two months of the 2023-24 season through injury and is still looking to rediscover his top form following a summer switch to Chelsea.

‘At the moment, I’m not at my level, but I’m getting there,’ he told the Evening Standard. ‘I know that I will arrive at my top form and I will enjoy it.

‘I continue to work. I continue to work on my confidence, on my football, on the adaptation, and I hope to be [at full fitness] as soon as as I can.’

Neto has struggled for starts since joining Chelsea and head coach Enzo Maresca has admitted he is one of three players who ‘deserve’ more game-time.

Given his reduced role in the team thus far, former Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling recently questioned whether Neto would be ‘regretting’ his move to Stamford Bridge.

‘I mentioned Pedro Neto earlier,’ he said on talkSPORT. ‘I just wonder if he is regretting in any way shape or form his move because he can’t get a start at Chelsea.

‘You do want to see him on the football pitch because he has had so many injuries over the years, he has played so little football.’

Neto admits he has his work cut out to earn starts at Chelsea but says the added competition at the club will make him an even better player.

‘When you arrive at a big club, it’s a new adaptation,’ he said. ‘Maybe in Wolverhampton, I was going to play maybe 90 per cent of the games.

‘Here, I have to work even more or maybe I’ll not play because the coach will rotate the players. It makes you play even better because you know that you have to work.

‘With the amount of quality that we have here, no one can sleep. As the coach has said: “Everyone will not play every game”.

‘We have to work hard and make for ourselves and continue to to do it every weekend, every training session, every game. It’s the mentality that I hope can take us to the top.’

Chelsea, who are fifth in the Premier League after five games, play host to Brighton this weekend.

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