Marco Palestra

Chelsea’s valuation of Pedro Neto is around £100million ($136m), almost double the £51.4m they paid to sign him from Wolves. Pre-season indicated that Neto is very likely to be behind at least Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Estevao for the central attacking spots, and perhaps Fernandez too if he stays. If his on-pitch role shrinks, so too will his market value next summer. But the tour of Australia and Asia threw up another intriguing possibility: What if Neto becomes a marauding right wing-back? That is where Xabi Alonso appears to favour him in a 3-4-2-1, with Marco Palestra switched to the left. Whether he would buy into making such a switch permanently is unclear, but Antonio Conte’s inspired remoulding of Victor Moses in 2016-17 offers an encouraging precedent from recent Chelsea history. 📝 @liam_twomey & @Conor0Neill_ 🔗