Chelsea are not surprised by the reported interest in Pedro Neto, though would not allow their winger to leave on the cheap after noting the rising valuations of other wide men in this window.
The Premier League club are not actively touting their Portuguese 26-year-old for sale, but Blues insiders are aware of the asking prices being issued elsewhere in Europe, and specifically for RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande and Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola.
Diomande and Barcola are both considered £100million-plus players by their respective clubs, and while Neto would struggle to fetch such a large fee, it does give Chelsea an idea of their own wide man’s worth. The Blues have not quoted a valuation on Neto as of yet.
Manchester City and Liverpool, along with sides in Saudi Arabia, have been linked with Neto.
Chelsea sources believe it is only natural that Neto has attracted interest because of a lack of top wingers in the current market.
City are also now managed by Enzo Maresca, who favoured Neto as his right winger while in charge at Stamford Bridge.
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Neto is not currently on Chelsea’s tour, which has started in Sydney, Australia, as he is still having downtime after representing Portugal at the World Cup.
Chelsea’s other Portuguese right winger, Geovany Quenda, is due to join up with his team-mates after the Australian leg of this tour as they move on to Asia.
Quenda, 19, picked up a ‘small injury’, per sources close to the player. Chelsea’s new striker from Strasbourg, Emmanuel Emegha, will return to training at a later date after suffering a hamstring issue during their behind-closed-doors friendly win over Bromley.
As revealed by Daily Mail Sport, Chelsea beat Bromley 3-0 and also Crawley 3-1 in secret training matches at Cobham, with Emegha scoring in both games.
