Chelsea told how to unlock their new Diego Costa after £90m transfer confirmation

Former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo believes Joao Pedro can score over 20 Premier League goals this season and help the Blues close the gap to Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.

Signed for a total package of £60million back in July, the Brazil international has hit the ground running at Chelsea. Joao Pedro has featured six times competitively for his new side and has scored five goals in that time - with two of them coming in the opening three Premier League games this season.

The 23-year-old has also provided two assists, with his link-up play catching the eye of many. He and Liam Delap cost Chelsea a combined £90million over the summer transfer window, with Nicolas Jackson in turn moving to Bayern Munich on a season-long loan deal, which could be worth £70million to the Blues when the campaign concludes.

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While Delap, who is set for several weeks on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury he suffered against Fulham before the international break, has shown signs of his promise during his early days at Stamford Bridge, it is Joao Pedro who has impressed the most. Chelsea's top goal scorer in the Premier League last season was Cole Palmer, who struck 15 times throughout the campaign.

Palmer also bagged 22 goals in the 2023/24 season, but the last time a traditional No.9 scored 20 or more times for Chelsea was back in 2016/17 when Diego Costa was working his magic. Costa scored 20 goals for the Blues that season - something Di Matteo believes Joao Pedro can replicate this time around in his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.

"I'm very pleased," Di Matteo, with a beaming smile on his face, told football.london on behalf of BetVictor Online Casino. "They bought important players, especially if you look at the centre forwards - Delap and Joao Pedro, two very good strikers.

"I liked Jackson, I always said that in the past, I like Nicolas. Joao Pedro is a natural goal scorer - he can get you a goal out of nothing and he doesn't need many chances. Hopefully he will be the player that was maybe missing a little bit to raise the level for the team.

"Sometimes you need to unlock defences and you try and there’s not much space available. You need one or two players that can just unlock the opposition's defence. So far, Joao Pedro has shown he is able to do that. Hopefully he can score 20-plus goals for the season and be the player I think everyone is looking for."

Asked if Joao Pedro can help close the gap to the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City this season, the Champions League-winning manager replied: "Absolutely. I watched him in America and the Club World Cup already. I was there, I watched him live there and he was very impressive.

"He seems to have a very good understanding with his new teammates from the start already. It didn't look like he was a new player, it seemed like he knew all the guys. His movements, they looked for him and they found him as well.

"Hopefully the team can be less reliant on Palmer because I think last season, you could see many times when Palmer was not firing or at the top of his game, they struggled a little bit. Hopefully with Joao Pedro there, a player that can overcome those deficiencies.

"Also, Delap is a very young, talented player that every time he comes on looks full of energy - and he has a goal or two in him too. It will be interesting to see how he develops, Delap, but I think Joao Pedro, even though he is quite young, has a lot of Premier League experience and that is certainly helpful."

Di Matteo coached the great Didier Drogba during the Italian's time at Stamford Bridge, with the Ivorian striker scoring 20 or more goals in a single Premier League season on two occasions. On one of those occasions (09/10 season), Chelsea were crowned champions and during the other campaign (06/07), the Blues narrowly missed out and finished in second.

Let's see where Joao Pedro's goals can take Chelsea this time around.