Just as they did 10 years ago, Chelsea are thriving after moving a winger into a wing-back role, with Pedro Neto the latest player to benefit. A decade ago, it was Victor Moses who made the switch, adapting to Antonio Conte's then-innovative system and helping Chelsea to a 13-match winning run en route to the Premier League title in 2017. Neto scored twice from wing-back in Chelsea's 2-0 win at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.
However, the situation could have unfolded very differently for the 26-year-old. Chelsea did not regard the Portuguese as untouchable during the summer, although they had set a lofty asking price of about £100m. They knew Neto was among the players frustrated at the end of last season after Enzo Maresca, with whom he had a close relationship, left the club on New Year's Day.
His managerial successor, Liam Rosenior, lasted less than four months in charge as Chelsea finished 10th. At the end of last season and throughout the summer, players including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro, Reece James and Moises Caicedo signed new contracts after buying into Chelsea's revised vision of adding experience alongside the talent already assembled. The appointment of Xabi Alonso also appeared to win players over, although there were questions about whether Neto relished the prospect of playing at wing-back, and uncertainty over his future persisted until the transfer window closed.
Yet last month, Neto signed a new contract until 2032 after emerging as a key player under Alonso. Like several team-mates, he has since publicly backed Chelsea's project under Alonso. Perhaps Alonso saw something in Neto that the player did not initially see in himself.
Despite joining Chelsea from Wolves for £54m in 2024, the attacker had never been particularly prolific, scoring 14 goals and providing 27 assists in 135 appearances for the Midlands club. His output improved only marginally at Stamford Bridge before Alonso's arrival, with 19 goals and 19 assists in 103 appearances. Since then, however, he has scored four goals and provided one assist in nine appearances this season, despite three of those coming as a substitute.
That is more than double the strike-rate he had achieved previously. Indeed, Chelsea are now getting the best of both worlds. Despite operating as a wing-back, he is averaging 5.3 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes compared with 3.6 last season.
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