Pedro Neto: Liverpool's Renewed Interest in the Winger

Two years on from a move that never happened, Pedro Neto’s name is back on Liverpool lips. The winger chose Stamford Bridge over Anfield when he left Wolves, a decision that left Jamie Carragher openly frustrated. Now, with Liverpool scouring the market for wide players, the story has circled back.

And this time, one journalist insists Neto “would jump at” the chance.

Liverpool’s winger hunt – and a familiar agent

Liverpool’s recruitment team are deep into a summer defined by one clear objective: add pace and threat out wide. Not one winger. Wingers, plural.

Speaking on The Transfer Show for Anfield Index, Dave Davis laid out the current landscape. Liverpool, he said, are working through their “alternate list” of targets and, crucially, are dealing again with Jorge Mendes. Among Mendes’ clients: Pedro Neto.

Davis highlighted why the Chelsea man still intrigues Liverpool’s data-focused setup. Neto carries the ball with purpose. He passes crisply. He delivers from wide areas with real menace. The underlying numbers back that up: his crossing metrics sit in the 95th percentile for cross expected threat and 93rd percentile for cross value added among his positional peers.

That’s the kind of profile Liverpool like – a wide player who doesn’t just hug the touchline, but actively tilts games with his service.

Then came the line that lit up the speculation.

“Our info is getting this stood up today. Neto would jump at this. They nearly did him when he was at Wolves,” Davis said, before tempering it slightly by admitting he was “poking holes” in how realistic the move actually is.

The desire from the player’s side, though, doesn’t seem in doubt.

The numbers that excite – and the ones that don’t

Neto’s case is a curious one. Watch him on a good day and you see a winger who looks built for a big stage: quick, technically sharp, able to unpick defences with a cross or a dribble. He played a starring role in Chelsea’s Club World Cup triumph a year ago, scoring three times at the tournament and underlining his ability to step up in big moments.

Across his Chelsea spell, he has 19 goals in 103 appearances. Respectable, but not spectacular.

Strip it back to the Premier League, and the picture becomes harsher. Nine goals in 69 league games for Chelsea is a modest return for a forward at a club with title ambitions. To put that in context, Cody Gakpo – who took heavy criticism from pundits for stretches of last season – matched that tally with nine goals in 52 games in all competitions for Liverpool in the 2025/26 campaign.

Where Neto redeems himself is in the creative data. His per-90 numbers in the Premier League last season, via Fotmob, paint him as a high-end chance creator:

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

Those figures place him comfortably among the better wide players in the division when it comes to building attacks, even if the final finish isn’t always his.

A Salah heir, on paper at least

On paper, Neto ticks several Liverpool boxes. He knows the Premier League. He can operate off the right, step in on his stronger foot, and also switch to the left or drift centrally if the system demands it. That kind of positional elasticity has been a hallmark of Liverpool’s forward line under recent managers.

He would, in theory, be a candidate to help absorb the enormous tactical and emotional void that will eventually appear when Mo Salah’s time at Anfield ends. Not replicate it – that’s a different level entirely – but share the burden on that flank.

There’s also no taboo now about moving directly from Chelsea to a rival. Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke went to Arsenal, Mason Mount to Manchester United. Stamford Bridge is no longer a one-way door.

So why does this still feel unlikely?

Why this move still feels distant

Start with the basics. Chelsea hold the contract. They know they have a player with strong creative output, in his prime at 26, and under a major agency umbrella. They also know Liverpool are shopping for wingers. That’s not the ideal setup for a bargain.

Then there’s Liverpool’s own calculus. If they are to reshape their attack, they may lean towards a more prolific profile, especially if any move is framed as part of the long-term succession plan for Salah. Neto’s chance creation is elite, but his goal record is not. For a club that has built its modern success on ruthless efficiency in the final third, that matters.

Davis’ own caveat – that he’s “poking holes” in the idea even as he reports Neto’s enthusiasm – reflects that tension. The interest is logical. The numbers are appealing. The player, by all accounts, is keen.

The deal? That’s another story.

For now, Neto sits where he has for much of the last two years: close enough to Liverpool’s orbit to be talked about, far enough away that a move still feels more like a tantalising what-if than an imminent reality.