There was a lot of satisfaction within the Chelsea camp soon after they made Joao Pedro their second signing of the summer.
This is the versatile attacker they had been planning to add to the squad for months, a target first put on the wishlist in January and successfully kept out of the public domain until recently.
As one member of Chelsea staff remarked on completion of the deal, a valuable addition has been made to head coach Enzo Maresca’s toolkit.
Brighton & Hove Albion were happy with how things went, too. Chelsea agreed to pay an initial fee of more than £50million ($68.5m), with add-ons and a sell-on clause included — good business for a player signed from Watford for £30m two years earlier.
Like with most transfers, not everyone ended up content. In this case, it was Newcastle United who missed out. They had made the 23-year-old a key part of their summer recruitment drive and had high hopes they could seal a deal.
For this piece, The Athletic has spoken to sources from all three clubs and others with knowledge of the deal, who spoke anonymously to protect relationships.
This is how Chelsea won the race for Joao Pedro’s signature.
Chelsea’s transfer business at the start of the year was fairly limited. Midfielder Mathis Amougou was bought from Saint-Etienne for £12.5m and an agreement was reached with Strasbourg for defender Mamadou Sarr to join in June for £11.9m.
But this did not mean things were quiet at Stamford Bridge. Plans were in place to identify players who could be bought early in the summer window.
There were two main reasons for this. First, there was Chelsea’s involvement in the Club World Cup and then there are the obvious benefits gained when players join the camp as early as possible. Playing in the Club World Cup means Chelsea will not get a proper pre-season, so gelling the squad as early as possible is particularly important this year.
With Chelsea looking to increase their attacking options, Joao Pedro was added to a list of names under consideration.
It took until May for the Brazil international to be solidified as a main target. His flexibility is particularly admired — for Brighton, he played as a striker, a ‘false nine’, a No 10/attacking midfielder or out wide.
Joao Pedro scored 10 league goals at Brighton last season (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
The player’s age matches the club’s philosophy of primarily buying young talent under the age of 25. He also brings a bit more physicality to the squad, standing at 6ft (182cm).
Well-documented disciplinary issues — including an altercation with Brighton team-mate Jan Paul van Hecke at training in May, having just served a three-game ban — could be concerning but one of the ploys behind Chelsea’s transfer strategy is to sign players members of staff know well, so they have an insight into their character and whether they can fit in.
In this case, Chelsea could rely heavily on the insight (and reassurance) of Sam Jewell, their director of global recruitment. He was a driving force behind signing Joao Pedro from Watford when he was head of recruitment at Brighton in 2023.
This summer, Brighton were always realistic about the situation and knew there would be interest in Joao Pedro. He is a young talent with a lot of potential to continue improving while still having five years of experience in English football.
Joao Pedro is also a man of great ambition, with his sights set on playing for Brazil at the World Cup next year. Moving to a club that could offer Champions League football was seen as a key part of him fulfilling that dream.
Like Chelsea, Newcastle qualified for the 2025-26 Champions League, so they felt they had a great chance of signing Joao Pedro for a long period. He was seen as a great replacement for Callum Wilson, the 33-year-old striker who is a free agent after his contract expired at the end of the 2024-25 season. Discussions have taken place to extend Wilson’s stay on tweaked terms but Newcastle have not confirmed whether he has left the club.
Newcastle’s admiration for Joao Pedro dates back to 2022 when they came close to signing him from Watford. However, when Wilson suffered an injury, head coach Eddie Howe pushed for a front-line striker instead and Newcastle purchased Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad instead.
During an interview with Globo Esporte in 2023, Joao Pedro admitted he was upset about the transfer not going through for some time.
Newcastle sources said there was a feeling that memories of that situation may have affected his thinking — but there was more to Joao Pedro choosing Chelsea than that.
With Isak firmly cemented as Howe’s first-choice centre forward, sources at Newcastle suggested Joao Pedro may feel he has a better chance of leading the line at Stamford Bridge than at St James’ Park, even if the plan was for him to both complement and stand in for Isak.
That view is debatable given Maresca has Nicolas Jackson and new £30m striker Liam Delap to play up front, but it is fair to say Joao Pedro should get a lot of game time under Maresca.
Until a few weeks ago, Newcastle were also under the impression that Joao Pedro was keen on a move to St James’ Park, though another source at St James’ Park suggested the deal never quite felt right. Newcastle were informed Joao Pedro’s preference was to stay in the London area, where he felt more comfortable.
That did not daunt Newcastle, who were the first club to make an official bid in the final fortnight of June — but it was not close to Brighton’s £60m valuation for Joao Pedro.
Late last week, Chelsea made their initial offer worth over £50m, which was also turned down, yet there was no concern over the threat Newcastle seemingly posed at the time. Chelsea were also aware of Joao Pedro’s preference to remain in London but were also convinced he wanted to join them over Newcastle anyway.
More talks between Chelsea’s senior recruitment team and Brighton chief executive Paul Barber took place over the following 48 hours.
There was a lot of back and forth on the valuation and the deal’s structure. Offers were made during cordial conversations rather than sending anything formal, for example, over email.
With an agreement in place, Maresca found the time to speak with Joao Pedro as well. This is not unusual. Last September, the Italian revealed he had held discussions with Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix before their moves from Manchester United (on loan) and Atletico Madrid were completed.
Joao Pedro flew from Brazil to Miami, Chelsea’s base at the Club World Cup, on Sunday for his medical. After the deal was announced on Wednesday afternoon, he revealed he had spoken to former Chelsea defender David Luiz and current midfielder Andrey Santos before deciding on his future.
“I talked with Andrey on Instagram and asked about the guys and the club,” Joao Pedro said upon signing. “He said good things about the team, so it was good to join. When you join a club and you know one of the players, it is easier.
“I’m a little bit close to David Luiz. I spoke to him, not about Chelsea, but about my career and how I could develop better. He helped me.”
Joao Pedro is now thinking about when he might make his debut, having been registered in time to play a part in the knockout phase of the Club World Cup. Chelsea face Palmeiras in the quarter-final on Friday (Saturday in the UK).
The snub leaves Newcastle needing to look elsewhere. There is frustration but no panic. One Newcastle insider suggested a deal was there for the taking in mid-June and wonders whether, had they acted faster, they might have put themselves into a position where Chelsea could not have responded quickly enough.
That feels like an optimistic take. In truth, Chelsea were always in a position to respond. After all, this had been on their minds since January.
(Top photos: Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)