Pedro Neto: Liverpool's Transfer Temptation Returns

Two summers ago, Liverpool thought they were close. Talks were held with the representatives of Pedro Neto, then lighting up Molineux in Wolves colours. Anfield’s recruitment team liked what they saw; the fit felt obvious. Then Chelsea arrived with a bigger offer and the winger went to Stamford Bridge instead, leaving Jamie Carragher among those lamenting a missed opportunity.

Now, at 26, Neto is back in the Liverpool conversation. At least from the outside.

‘He’d jump at it’

On Anfield Index’s The Transfer Show, journalist Dave Davis lifted the lid on Liverpool’s search for wide players and dropped one name with particular emphasis.

“Who are Liverpool going to move for? It’s clear the wingers are the priority, and I’m saying that plural,” he said, outlining a summer strategy that leans heavily towards adding pace and width.

Then came the Mendes line. Liverpool, Davis suggested, are “back in bed with Jorge Mendes”, and that naturally drags Neto into the frame. The Chelsea forward is one of the Portuguese super-agent’s most notable Premier League clients.

Davis was clear about the profile: a ball-carrier, sharp passer, dangerous crosser. The data backs it up. Neto ranks in the 95th percentile for cross expected threat and 93rd for cross value added, numbers that paint him as one of the league’s most productive wide deliverers.

On the player’s side, the interest would not be lukewarm.

“Our info is getting this stood up today,” Davis added. “Neto would jump at this. They nearly did him when he was at Wolves.”

There was a caveat – Davis admitted he’s “poking holes” in the idea – but the message was clear enough. If Liverpool called, Neto would listen. Quickly.

The numbers that don’t quite scream ‘game-changer’

The romance of a second chance at Anfield collides with a colder reality when you look at the goals column.

Neto has 19 goals in 103 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions. Strip it back to the Premier League and the picture is even less flattering: nine goals in 69 league games. For a forward being spoken about as a potential heir to Mo Salah on the right, that return lands somewhere between underwhelming and problematic.

To put it into perspective, Cody Gakpo – a player heavily criticised across last season – matched Neto’s nine-goal tally in just 52 games in all competitions for Liverpool in 2024/25. Gakpo took heat from pundits for not being clinical or decisive often enough. Neto’s output would face the same scrutiny, if not more.

Where the Chelsea man fights back is in chance creation. His underlying numbers in the 2025/26 Premier League campaign tell a more flattering story:

• Pass completion: 87.3% (89th percentile among positional peers)
• Successful crosses: 1.29 per 90 (88th percentile)
• ‘Big chances’ created: 0.41 per 90 (81st percentile)
• Assists: 0.2 per 90 (78th percentile)
• Chances created: 1.8 per 90 (78th percentile)
• Successful dribbles: 1.6 per 90 (76th percentile)

This is a winger who progresses play, opens doors and supplies danger. He stretches defences, dribbles past full-backs and whips in balls that cause chaos. He just doesn’t finish as often as an elite wide forward is expected to.

A Salah successor… on paper

On paper, Neto ticks several boxes for Liverpool’s right flank in a post-Salah landscape.

He knows the league. He can operate on either wing and has the versatility to play centrally if needed. His delivery would suit a penalty-box predator. His pressing and running power, honed in the Premier League, would not be out of place in a high-intensity system.

There’s also the not-insignificant precedent of Chelsea selling to direct rivals. Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke went to Arsenal. Mason Mount joined Manchester United. Stamford Bridge is no longer a fortress when it comes to keeping talent away from domestic competitors.

So the deal is at least structurally imaginable. Player keen. Agent connected. Selling club with a track record of doing business with rivals.

And yet, for all that, it still feels distant.

Why this one still feels unlikely

Strip away the noise and you’re left with a simple question: does Pedro Neto, at this stage of his career, represent the level of guaranteed end product Liverpool need to replace Salah?

The answer, for now, leans towards no.

Liverpool’s recruitment team, historically, has been ruthless about output in the final third. They have built title-challenging sides on forwards who do not just create danger but repeatedly decide matches. If the club are prioritising “wingers, plural”, they will want at least one who arrives with a scoring record that demands a starting place, not one that sparks a debate.

Neto’s creative metrics are impressive. His stylistic fit has logic. His willingness to move is not in doubt. But when the club weigh all that against the goals, the fee Chelsea would demand, and the need for a statement signing on the right, the equation becomes far less convincing.

Liverpool may well admire Neto, just as they did at Wolves. They may keep the lines to Mendes open and the option alive. Yet admiration is a long way from activation.

If the call from Anfield ever did come, Neto would, by all accounts, jump. The real question is whether Liverpool ever feel the need to pick up the phone.