Joao Pedro: Chelsea's Rising Star Compared to Haaland and Benzema
Xabi Alonso did not flinch. Asked if Joao Pedro belongs in the same conversation as Erling Haaland, the Chelsea manager simply said: yes.
In a league obsessed with numbers, the Brazilian’s start to the season has been impossible to ignore. Two goals, two assists in his first three games. On Friday, the Premier League named him Player of the Month, his first such award, edging out team-mate Cole Palmer – the last Chelsea player to claim the prize back in September 2024.
For Alonso, though, this is about more than a hot streak.
‘He reminds me of Benzema’
Alonso spent years at Real Madrid watching Karim Benzema turn centre-forward play into an art form. When he looks at Joao Pedro, he sees echoes of the Frenchman.
“In many things he reminds me of Benzema,” Alonso said. “He is good in the box, he is good out of the box, he is good coming to his left side, he is good with the head, he is very complete, he is intelligent.”
That is not a comparison tossed out lightly. Benzema, now 38 and a free agent, has 523 goals in 994 appearances for France, Lyon, Real Madrid and Saudi Arabian clubs Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal. Alonso shared a pitch with him 195 times in Madrid white. He knows exactly what that level looks like.
So when he puts Joao Pedro in that company, it lands.
“Yes, he is still young, still things to develop,” Alonso added, “but many, many absolutely outstanding qualities that he has.”
Haaland territory
The Benzema reference was bold enough. The Haaland one is bolder.
Asked directly whether Joao Pedro can be compared to Manchester City’s goal machine, who took last season’s Premier League Golden Boot with 27 goals, Alonso did not back away.
“I would say yes,” he replied. “If you count how many top strikers we have in the Premier League, I’m sure that Joao is there, Haaland for sure is there. So I would rate him that way.”
The numbers tell their own story. Since arriving at Stamford Bridge last summer, Joao Pedro has scored 25 goals and delivered 11 assists in 57 matches. In that same number of games for City, Haaland has 42 goals and nine assists.
Haaland is a specialist, a pure finisher who lives between the posts. Joao Pedro is something different. He has played as a midfielder, a No 10 and a winger in his career, and Alonso leans on that wider repertoire. The Brazilian drops into pockets, drifts left, links play, then still arrives in the box with menace.
That blend has finally given Chelsea a true No 9 again.
The new No 9
Last month, Joao Pedro underlined his commitment to the project, signing a new contract that runs until 2034. Chelsea handed him the club’s iconic number nine shirt at the start of the season – a jersey that has weighed heavily on plenty of strikers in recent years.
He has shrugged off the burden.
In his debut campaign he became the first Chelsea striker since Diego Costa to hit 20 goals in a single season. Now he has the contract, the shirt and, increasingly, the status to match.
Alonso’s praise is not just about finishing. It is about how Joao Pedro knits Chelsea’s attack together, how he reads the game, how he leads.
Brazil pain, new fire
The story could have taken a different turn this summer. Joao Pedro was a surprise omission from Brazil’s World Cup squad, left out by national team manager Carlo Ancelotti – the same Ancelotti who once coached Alonso at Real Madrid.
For a player in form, it stung. Alonso did not need to weaponise that disappointment.
“He had enough motivation,” the Chelsea boss said. “He already had enough within him, so I didn’t need to go there. It was painful for him, but that is in the past. We are now focused on what he is doing well and what he can do better.”
The response has been emphatic. His club form has forced Brazil’s hand. Joao Pedro is back in the squad for September’s internationals against New Zealand and India, a swift return to the national stage after that World Cup snub.
Alonso has seen a shift not just in his football, but in the person.
“He has been outstanding,” he said. “Not just in football terms, but in his personality, his maturity and his desire. He has a very clear goal this season, which is to have a great campaign and score a lot of goals.”
The comparison list is already extraordinary: Haaland for output, Benzema for style, Costa for Chelsea history. The question now is simple: how far can Joao Pedro push those names aside and make the role his own?
