Pedro Neto and Liverpool's Transfer Interest
Two summers ago, Liverpool kicked the tyres on Pedro Neto. Talks with his representatives took place while he was still at Wolves, the profile looked right, the timing felt right – and then he went to Chelsea. Jamie Carragher has been grumbling about that decision ever since.
Now, at 26 and two years into life at Stamford Bridge, Neto’s name is back in the Liverpool conversation. Not from Anfield itself, but from those who keep a close eye on the club’s transfer movements.
On Anfield Index’s The Transfer Show, journalist Dave Davis claimed the Chelsea winger “would jump at” the chance to move to Merseyside if Liverpool came calling this summer. It’s a bold line, but it fits a wider picture: Liverpool are actively hunting wide players and have, as Davis put it, gone “back in bed” with super-agent Jorge Mendes – Neto’s representative.
Liverpool’s winger hunt – and the Mendes factor
Liverpool’s need out wide is no secret. With Mo Salah edging towards the final stages of his Anfield career and the squad crying out for fresh thrust on the flanks, the recruitment focus has shifted firmly to wide forwards. Plural.
“Who are Liverpool going to move for? It’s clear the wingers are the priority, and I’m saying that plural. We’ve known that all summer,” Davis said, describing the club as now working from an “alternate list” of targets.
Neto sits squarely on that list. Mendes’ renewed prominence around Liverpool matters here. The club have done business with him before and, when relations with a major agent warm up again, doors that once felt closed can swing open quickly.
On the pitch, Davis painted a picture of a very specific profile. Neto as a carrier. Neto as a passer. Neto as a crosser whose underlying numbers leap off the data sheet: cross expected threat in the 95th percentile, cross value added in the 93rd. A wide man who doesn’t just hit hopeful balls into the box, but consistently delivers crosses that bend games towards goal.
And then came the line that set tongues wagging: “Our info is getting this stood up today. Neto would jump at this. They nearly did him when he was at Wolves.” Davis did add that he was “poking holes” in the idea, a nod to the complications involved, but the message was clear – the player would not need much persuading.
The numbers behind the name
Strip away the Mendes intrigue and the romantic idea of a winger desperate to play in front of the Kop, and the cold numbers tell a more awkward story.
Neto has scored 19 goals in 103 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions. In the Premier League, it’s nine goals in 69 games. For a forward at a club with Chelsea’s ambitions, that is a modest return.
To put it in context, Cody Gakpo – who spent much of last season being dissected and criticised – hit nine goals in 52 games in all competitions for Liverpool. Gakpo’s output drew heavy scrutiny. Neto’s league record is no stronger, and he would be walking into a club where the standards for attackers have been set by Salah, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and, more recently, Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz.
Where Neto does make a stronger case is in chance creation. The underlying metrics from FotMob for the 2025/26 Premier League season paint the picture of a winger who feeds others:
- Pass completion: 87.3% – 89th percentile
- 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
These are not the numbers of a passenger. They belong to a player who consistently progresses the ball, beats his man and fashions opportunities. For a team that often dominates territory and needs incision against low blocks, that profile has clear appeal.
Could he really replace Salah?
The temptation is obvious. Neto is Premier League-proven, knows the intensity of the division and can operate on both flanks, with the added ability to play through the middle when required. Versatility has long been a non-negotiable trait for Liverpool forwards under their recent managers.
On the right, he could, in theory, step into the lane Salah has owned for seven years. On the left, he offers a different angle to Díaz. Through the centre, he can stretch defences or drop in to link play. It’s the kind of tactical flexibility Liverpool’s recruitment team have repeatedly targeted.
There is also the not-so-small matter of precedent. Chelsea selling to direct rivals is hardly unheard of. Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke to Arsenal, Mason Mount to Manchester United – Stamford Bridge has not been a closed shop when it comes to strengthening competitors.
Yet this is where the fantasy runs into the hard edge of reality. Chelsea would demand a serious fee for a 26-year-old international under contract, and Liverpool’s recent transfer strategy has been ruthless about value. Paying top-tier money for a winger whose goal output lags behind his creative numbers is a significant gamble, particularly if he is being viewed as a long-term heir to Salah.
Neto’s willingness is only one piece of a complex puzzle. Liverpool’s internal data, their hierarchy’s view on his ceiling, Chelsea’s stance, the rest of the winger shortlist – all of that weighs heavier than a single player’s enthusiasm.
So the idea lingers, half-open door, half-closed chapter. Neto, the winger Liverpool “nearly did” at Wolves, now a Chelsea player who would “jump at” a move to Anfield. The question is not whether he wants it.
It’s whether Liverpool see him as the man to carry the right flank into a post-Salah era, or just another name that slipped through their fingers twice.
