Chelsea forward breaks silence on potential £100m exit

Chelsea forward breaks silence on potential £100m exit Pedro Neto shuts down Saudi transfer talk as Chelsea future becomes clear Pedro Neto has made his position plain. There is no flirtation, no come and get me message, no attempt to keep options open. Chelsea’s Portugal forward says he wants to stay where he is, and for a club that spent much of the summer fielding noise around his future, that matters. Neto had been linked with a move away after Chelsea added Geovany Quenda from Sporting CP. There was also interest from elsewhere, including the Saudi Pro League, while other elite clubs were mentioned in the background. The issue was simple enough. Chelsea valued him at €120 million, which is around £100m, and nobody was prepared to meet it. That left Chelsea with a top-level winger, and it left Neto with a chance to settle the argument on the pitch. So far, he has done exactly that. Pedro Neto form gives Chelsea clarity Neto has started nine of Chelsea’s first 10 Premier League matches this season and scored three times. More importantly, he has become one of the constants in a side still searching for consistency. That has consequences elsewhere in the squad too, with Estevao Willian finding minutes harder to come by while Neto keeps his place. Chelsea rewarded him with a new contract in September, running until 2032. Clubs do not hand out deals of that length and value unless they see a player as central to the project. Neto’s standing under Xabi Alonso is now obvious. Asked directly whether a move to Saudi Arabia appealed, he gave a straight answer to O Jogo : “I’m attracted to Chelsea. My head is only here. “The club has shown me affection, given me everything, and I’m very grateful for that. I don’t think about other scenarios.” That is about as clear as it gets. Photo IMAGO Xabi Alonso impact praised by Chelsea winger Neto also spoke warmly about Chelsea’s manager, and again there was no ambiguity. He sees improvement, structure and a shift in mentality under Alonso, even if results have not always followed in a smooth line. He said: “He tries to pass on a lot of what he was as a player and, as we know, he was an elite player. He has very clear ideas and tactically the team has improved a lot under him. “Then there’s his experience, everything he went through at the clubs he played for and everything he won. He brought that winning mentality to the club, that desire to win trophies. And that’s something the players have definitely bought into. “The players want trophies, they’re hungry for victories and he’s brought that to the team. He’s used to winning.” Chelsea Premier League ambition comes with warning Neto did not duck the big target either. Chelsea want the Premier League. Fine. So does everyone near the top. The difference is whether a squad can sustain it over months, not weeks. His assessment was sensible: “The main objective will be to win the Premier League, although it won’t be easy. Every match is very difficult, it’s a very competitive league. “You can only really understand whether you have a chance of getting there towards the end of the competition. “At the beginning, until January, you can be in first place, as happened to us two years ago, and then end up finishing fourth. In the Premier League, I like to take it game by game.” That is the right line. Chelsea have talent, Neto among it, and Alonso has clearly convinced key players. The rest is about delivery. Talk is cheap. Titles are not.