Pedro Neto and Arsenal: A Perfect Marriage?

By Rob Worthington (Deputy Editor)

Speaking to talkSPORT in 2019, a fresh-faced Pedro Neto revealed “when I was a kid, my favourite team in England was Arsenal.”

The Portuguese winger continued “Arsenal, yeah, because with Arsene Wenger, I thought [even though] they didn’t win trophies, they played very good football.”

Fast forward 3 years, and now the Wolves man is being heavily linked with a ∼£50 million move to the English club he grew up in admiration of.

A lot has happened since then. During his first couple of seasons in the Premier League, Neto quickly established himself as one of the division’s top prospects, contributing towards 17 Wolves goals across 39 starts.

But then injury hit. Neto faced the first big fitness blow of his career, sustaining a severe injury to his kneecap in April 2021 which side-lined him for 295 days.

Understandably, since then, he hasn’t looked quite the same player. Despite returning from his injury in February, he has only managed to start 8 Premier League games for Wolves in 2022.

Nevertheless, glimpses of his immense quality have been visible. There is still clearly a fantastic player in Pedro Neto.

Promisingly, he has started each of Wolves’ first three Premier League fixtures. Granted, he hasn’t set the world alight, but the Midlands outfit are lacking firepower up top at the moment.

And in spite of their lack of goalscoring threat, one suspects Wolves would be prepared to let Neto go this summer if an adequate offer arrives for the 22-year-old.

Bruno Lage’s side boast a net spend of -£71.19 million this summer, notably high for a club of Wolves’ stature, and they will doubtlessly be looking at ways in which they can recoup some of that cash before the window slams shut.

And from that perspective, selling Neto would make sense. Lage knows he has a plethora of options when it comes to wide players.

Hee Chan Hwang, Daniel Podence, and Chiquinho have all stayed at the club this summer. Adama Traore has been re-integrated. And in addition to that quartet, Gonçalo Guedes has joined Wolves’ winger ranks after completing a £35 million move from Valencia.

If there’s going to be a significant departure for Wolves before the end of the window, it’ll likely come through the sale of Pedro Neto.

And that’s where Arsenal enter the conversation.

Despite some minor concerns surrounding Financial Fair Play, Arsenal are known to have money left in the bank this summer.

This was evidenced by the club’s attempts to sign Raphinha earlier in the window. Arsenal clearly have some serious cash set aside to spend on a wide player this summer.

And in terms of what Arsenal need, Pedro Neto fits Arsenal to a T. And in terms of what Neto needs at this stage of his career, Arsenal fits him pretty nicely too.

Firstly, the Arsenal perspective.

Arsenal do not need to sign a winger this summer who immediately walks into their starting XI.

In Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, the Gunners already boast one of the most fearsome winger pairings in the Premier League.

Fortunately, on the left flank, Mikel Arteta can depend on Emile Smith Rowe to adequately understudy Martinelli when the Brazilian is unavailable. On the right though, Arsenal find themselves in a spot of both when Bukayo Saka can’t play.

And as he has shown at Wolves over the past few seasons, Neto thrives when handed the opportunity to play on the right flank.

And that brings me onto the Neto perspective.

Neto knows he needs to look after himself this season. It’ll be the first time he will be playing regularly since his injury, and his playing time will have to be managed accordingly.

At Arsenal, there is absolutely no pressure on him to be playing every week. He can feature in the Europa League, and in more important league matches, when necessary, but there isn’t an onus on him to make sure he is constantly available.

As and when he needs rest, Arsenal can and will be able to offer it to him.

Of course, that will only satisfy Neto for so long though. However, there is a clear pathway towards regular playing time for the 22-year-old in north London.

As will become apparent over the course of the Premier League season, Arsenal won’t really have a fixed starting XI. The quality in depth all over the pitch now means regular chopping and changing is possible for the current leaders of the English topflight.

And for a highly motivated elite footballer, the idea of being part of such a competitive environment is bound to bring about enthusiasm. This is a logical next step for Neto in his career.

There are additional pros which outweigh the few cons associated with this potential deal.

Neto won’t have to worry about settling in culturally at Arsenal due to the multitude of Portuguese speakers at the club, and in terms of his own personal development, Mikel Arteta’s track record of improving wingers speaks for itself.

Arsenal should absolutely push forward with this deal. From many perspectives, it just makes so much sense.

If the Gunners get their man, Arsenal and Pedro Neto’s marriage really will be a perfect one.