Joao Pedro: Enzo Maresca says Chelsea striker will not score 20 goals this season | OneFootball

The goals - and shots - have dried up for the £60m forward

Enzo Maresca has admitted that Joao Pedro is not the type of forward who will score 20 goals a season for Chelsea.

After a blistering start to life at Chelsea, which included two goals in the final of the Club World Cup, Joao Pedro has not scored since August.

Maresca, though, said he was adamant the 24-year-old would rediscover his touch in front of goal but admitted he was not a traditional frontman in the mould of Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe, or Erling Haaland.

It's not Joao, he's a fantastic player, he's going to score goals for us, he's going to give us assists

Enzo Maresca

“He's going to score goals with us, he's going to give us assists, knowing that Joao Pedro is not a No9 that is going to score 20 goals each year,” Maresca said in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday morning.

“For sure, the physical part is important. When you are not at 100 per cent, it’s difficult to compete, especially in this league. But I think Joao is not a problem at all.

“Otherwise, we lie. It's not Joao, he's a fantastic player, he's going to score goals for us, he's going to give us assists. But it's a different kind of nine, not like this kind of nine that they score 20-25 goals each year. Lewandowski, Mbappe or Haaland, this kind is a different profile.”

Asked if his side would need to spread the goals around with Joao Pedro struggling in front of goal and Liam Delap working his way back from injury, Maresca called on the rest of Chelsea’s attack to shoulder some of the goalscoring responsibility.

“Absolutely, yes,” Maresca continued. “We said many times that the five players at the front, we need six, seven, eight, nine, ten goals each, in the way we have done last season.”