Tottenham Target Chelsea’s Pedro Neto as Squad Rebuild Intensifies
Tottenham Hotspur’s search for more firepower has led them across London – and straight to Chelsea’s Pedro Neto.
Roberto De Zerbi has already ripped up and rewritten much of Spurs’ squad this summer. Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson have all arrived as the Italian stamps his identity on a team still reeling from a bruising opening-day defeat.
That 3-0 thumping at Brentford on Saturday underlined the problem. Spurs need more threat in the final third. Fast.
Savinho and Omar Marmoush are close to joining from Manchester City, with both deals in the final stages, but De Zerbi wants even more options in attack. Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo sits high on the wishlist, yet any move depends on whether Tottenham can strike an agreement with Anfield’s hierarchy. Right now, that remains unresolved.
So the contingency plans are already in motion.
Sky Sports report that Spurs have drawn up alternative targets, and among them is Neto, a player Chelsea value at around £100m. The 26-year-old is highly regarded at Stamford Bridge, part of a revamped squad under Xabi Alonso, who has walked into his first Premier League job and immediately overseen a major overhaul.
Chelsea’s stance on Neto is nuanced. He has not been formally placed on the market, but nor is he considered untouchable. The message is clear: at the right price, they will talk.
Al Hilal tested that resolve earlier in the window. The Saudi Pro League club showed interest, yet, according to Fabrizio Romano, backed away after judging the Portuguese winger too expensive and switched attention towards Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli.
The question now is whether Chelsea would countenance losing Neto to a direct London rival, and doing so late in the window. Internally, they have benchmarked his valuation against other wide players sold this summer, and they are under no pressure to sell on the cheap.
Neto’s own view will matter just as much. Would he push for a move across the capital to Spurs? Under Alonso, he has already been asked to adapt, operating both as a wing-back and in more advanced attacking roles as the new head coach experiments with shape and personnel. Chelsea’s depth in wide and attacking areas means regular minutes are not guaranteed, but his versatility also makes him a valuable piece in Alonso’s evolving puzzle.
The rest of Chelsea’s attacking department is in flux too. A loan bid from AS Roma for Jamie Gittens has been rejected, while Mykhailo Mudryk – back in action this summer after the resolution of his doping case – is expected to leave on loan. Leeds United have already seen one offer turned down, with several other clubs monitoring his situation.
What emerges from all of this is a clear picture at Stamford Bridge: the final stretch of the summer window will be frantic. Alonso wants a leaner group for at least the first half of the season, and that means multiple outgoings.
Whether one of them is Pedro Neto, and whether he ends up in the white of Spurs, could become one of the defining late stories of this window.
