Roy Keane has been left unimpressed by Chelsea’s latest piece of summer transfer business.
The Blues have been characteristically busy in the transfer window so far, with the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo and Renato Veiga coming in, while Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson have all been sold — with Conor Gallagher’s Atletico Madrid move still ongoing.
That is barely scratching the surface of Chelsea’s wheelings and dealings so far and their latest swoop saw them land Portugal international winger Pedro Neto from Wolves for £54m (per Sky Sports).
Neto arrives following a 2023/24 campaign in which he notched two goals and nine assists in 20 Premier League appearances, with that record extending to three goals and 11 assists in 24 games across all competitions.
Ready to make his mark in Blue.
Welcome to Chelsea, Pedro Neto! ? pic.twitter.com/XdJvsrdlH5
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 11, 2024
However, the 24-year-old saw his season disrupted considerably by injury, with Neto sitting out 23 games for club and country with a hamstring problem (per Transfermarkt). In fact, since joining Wolves in 2019, Transfermarkt calculates Neto as missing a massive 112 matches for club and country.
Appearing on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane blasted Chelsea’s decision to sign Neto, comparing the forward’s injury record to that of Man Utd left-back Luke Shaw — who, per Transfermarkt, missed 34 games through injury last season alone.
“No! He’s always injured! F*** sake. He’s like [Luke] Shaw,” Keane ranted in response to Ian Wright saying Neto would be a ‘great signing’ for Chelsea.
Keane added: “He’ll add to the chaos. He’s going to add to the chaos. [He will] Run everywhere, and [spend] six months on the treatment table, hamstring injury.”