Arsenal backed to sign ‘world-class’ Chelsea ace in extraordinary deal | OneFootball

Joao Pedro has been tipped to consider a hugely controversial move from Chelsea to Arsenal by one of his former team-mates.

Pedro has been on fire lately, having notched eight goals and five assists in his last eight Premier League matches. That includes a hat-trick as the striker helped Chelsea to 4-1 victory at Aston Villa on March 4, their last league outing.

Pedro also scored Chelsea’s fourth and final goal as they overcame Wrexham in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, with his overall record for the season standing at 18 goals and nine assists in 40 games.

The Blues paid Brighton & Hove Albion £60million for Pedro, and that is proving to be a brilliant deal. The Brazil international has emerged as Chelsea’s first-choice centre-forward, leaving Liam Delap searching for minutes off the bench.

Amid Pedro’s excellent form, talkSPORT asked ex-Watford star Keinan Davis if he could envisage the 24-year-old completing a shock transfer to rivals Arsenal.

“Yeah, for sure [you could see it],” Davis replied. “You’re gonna see in training his quality.

“Even playing with him, he’s Brazilian, so he’s just got that flair and belief in himself that he knows he’s a very good player.

“He’s a good guy as well. He’s not disrespectful or anything like that; he’s just a top person.

“So yeah, you could definitely see that you can move on to make big steps.

“To see him at Chelsea now is like… Even if he went to Arsenal or something like that, I wouldn’t be surprised; he’s very good.”

Davis is far from the only person to laud Pedro recently. When asked at a press conference if Pedro is on par with elite strikers such as Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane, Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior replied: “I think Joao’s in that category now. Consistently, during the two months that I’ve been here, he’s shown that level. He’s a world-class striker.

“I only talk about my players, it’s disrespectful to Erling to compare them. I don’t know Erling really well, what I do know is that from the outside he’s a magnificent world-class striker.

“But I wouldn’t swap Joao for anyone in this moment to be honest, because he’s showing all of the things and all the attributes I want to see in my No.9.”

After the win at Wrexham, pundit Joe Cole said of Pedro: “He’s a monster, he really is.

“I think he’s decided what he’s already doing [for his goal], he’s playing with them, he takes the centre-half over to the left, drags him back, he actually strikes it into the floor, everything he’s hitting at the moment going in.

“He plays that No.9 role, he plays it not like an Erling Haaland where he’s constantly on the shoulder, he will drop in and drift in because he’s got quality.”