Joao Pedro names Chelsea star who would thrive for Brazil amid World Cup promise | OneFootball

Striker was a surprise omission from Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for summer tournament

Joao Pedro believes Cole Palmer would be well-suited to play as Brazil’s No10 - but predicted the Selecao will knock England out of this summer’s World Cup.

The Chelsea striker has struck up a productive partnership with Palmer this season, his first in west London since moving from Brighton.

Joao Pedro himself was voted the club’s player of the year after hitting 15 league goals in 35 appearances, but did not do enough to turn Carlo Ancelotti’s head. He was left out of Brazil’s squad for the World Cup in favour of Bournemouth’s Rayan and Real Madrid’s Endrick.

In spite of the surprise snub, Joao Pedro joked on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast that Palmer, who himself was left out of England’s World Cup squad, would slot nicely into Brazil’s World Cup squad.

“He’s very intelligent. He’s magic,” said the Chelsea striker.

“I said to him before, ‘I didn’t think you were that good.’ And he looked at me. I said, ‘Yeah, but now because I play with him, yeah, he’s different.’

Joao Pedro was a surprise omission from Brazil’s World Cup squad

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“I said to him, ‘Why don’t you come to Brazil? The number 10 there, mate. No problem.’ Because in Brazil, we don’t have this guy.

“If you watch us, we play 4-2-4. We don’t have a number 10.”

He continued, explaining Ancelotti’s holistic approach to picking Brazil’s squad for the World Cup.

“He says he doesn’t want one guy. He wants the group. Because he thinks the group has more power than one guy.

“And I think with him there, when he talks, people listen. Because he wins everything. And with the players, he tries to build relationships with everyone.

He acknowledges, though, that Vinicius Jr will be the star of the show as Brazil look to end their 24-year wait for a World Cup title this summer.

“Of course, Vinícius is going to be the guy. But for Vinícius to be the guy, he needs the team. So, he doesn’t want to say, if you don’t win, it’s your fault. No, no, no.

In closing, he issued a prediction for the World Cup, with Brazil on course to cross paths with the Three Lions in the knockout stages: “We’re going to beat England in the quarter-final.”

Brazil are grouped with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland at the World Cup, with their first match pencilled in for June 13.