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João Pedro's pair of pearlers book Chelsea's final ticket
The Guardian
|July 09, 2025
The talk was mostly about Enzo Maresca wanting to add more guile to his attack when Chelsea signed João Pedro last week.
Less was made of the former Brighton forward's ability to crash through an opposition defence. Then again Fluminense made João Pedro and were probably not surprised to find their former star in scintillating goalscoring form in this one-sided Club World Cup semi-final.
Two thunderous finishes from the versatile attacker were enough to ensure that Chelsea will return to the MetLife Stadium to face Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid in Sunday's final. They can make £97m in prize money from this tournament, which is probably just as well given their spending.
Up to £60m has been invested in João Pedro, although in fairness that looks like smart business judging by his first two performances for his new team. This was an impressive way for him to follow up his encouraging cameo against Palmeiras and will tell Maresca that he will have a lot of variety in attack next season.
This story is from the July 09, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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