Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has claimed that there are at least three Premier League strikers who are better than Chelsea star Joao Pedro.
Pedro was powerless to prevent Chelsea from losing 2-1 to United over the weekend.
The 23-year-old and his side were not helped by Robert Sanchez, who was sent off just five minutes in after taking out Bryan Mbeumo in a one-v-one situation.
Sanchez will now miss the Lincoln City tie on Tuesday because of a one-game suspension.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty ImagesGary Neville claims Chelsea forward Joao Pedro isn’t on Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike’s level
While Sanchez has his critics, Pedro has his fans, with Neville being one of them. The ex-United captain thinks the Brazilian is a good player.
However, he has claimed that Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike are all better forwards.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, he said: “I have to say, they look well short for me, still, up front. For all the money that they’ve spent, and I know they’ve got good players, he’s got Delap and Joao Pedro, who’s a good player. But they’re still not at that level, where you think that they’re nothing like Haaland, or Isak or even Ekitike for that matter.”
Pedro has made a strong start to the season. In five Premier League games, the Brazil international has registered five goal contributions.
It was always going to be difficult to add to them at Old Trafford, though, following Sanchez’s early red card.
Given the circumstances, Pedro still played quite well and was probably the team’s only real threat alongside Reece James.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesJoao Pedro, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike compared
Few strikers in the world are on Haaland’s level, if any at all. A fit and firing Isak is also probably one of the best forwards in the game.
This season so far, Pedro has not scored as many goals as Haaland, but he is not far away from him in overall goal contributions.
With Isak just returning to action following his move from Newcastle United to Liverpool, Pedro has also made more of an impact than the Swede in this early stage of the campaign.
The above does not mean that Pedro is on the same level as the likes of Haaland and Isak, but what it does show is that the former Brighton & Hove Albion man is doing his job as an attacker right now. He is one Chelsea player whom you should not be criticising at this moment in time.