Joao Pedro: From Player of the Month to Elite Striker

Xabi Alonso did not flinch. Asked if Joao Pedro belongs in the same conversation as Erling Haaland, the Chelsea manager went straight for it.

“I would say yes.”

For a striker with three Premier League games under his belt this season, it is a thunderous endorsement. But Alonso has seen this before. At Real Madrid, he watched Karim Benzema knit together a superstar attack, score all types of goals and make it look effortless. Now, at Stamford Bridge, he sees echoes of that same blend of elegance and ruthlessness in his Brazilian number nine.

From Player of the Month to elite company

Joao Pedro’s start to the campaign has been electric: two goals, two assists in his first three league matches. On Friday, that form was recognised as he collected the Premier League’s Player of the Month award for the first time, edging out team-mate Cole Palmer, who held the prize back in September 2024.

The numbers only tell part of the story, but they are stacking up quickly. Since arriving at Chelsea last summer, Joao Pedro has scored 25 goals and delivered 11 assists in 57 appearances. In his debut season he became the club’s first striker since Diego Costa to hit 20 goals in a single campaign, ending a long search for a reliable scorer in the famous blue shirt.

Chelsea have moved decisively to lock that down. Last month he signed a new contract running to 2034 and took on the club’s number nine shirt, a jersey that has weighed heavily on others. On him, it looks light.

Haaland comparisons – and a Benzema echo

Haaland remains the benchmark for pure, relentless goalscoring in England. The Manchester City forward has 42 goals and nine assists in his last 57 games for the club, a return that underlines why he walked away with the Premier League Golden Boot last season after scoring 27 league goals.

Yet when Alonso was asked whether Joao Pedro can be compared to the Norwegian, he did not back away.

“If you count how many top strikers we have in the Premier League, I'm sure that Joao is there, Haaland for sure is there. So I would rate him that way,” he said.

The comparison is not like-for-like. Haaland is a specialist finisher, a penalty-box predator who lives off the last shoulder. Joao Pedro is a different type of threat. Over his career he has played as a midfielder, a number 10 and a winger. He drifts, links, presses, creates. He is a forward who wants the ball at his feet as much as he wants it arriving in the six-yard box.

That variety is what takes Alonso’s mind back to Madrid.

“In many things he reminds me of Benzema, because he is good in the box, he is good out of the box, he is good coming to his left side, he is good with the head, he is very complete, he is intelligent,” Alonso said.

Benzema’s numbers speak for themselves: 523 goals in 994 appearances for France, Lyon, Real Madrid and Saudi Arabian clubs Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal. Alonso shared a dressing room with him 195 times at the Bernabeu and watched him evolve from support act to Ballon d’Or winner. When he calls Joao Pedro “very complete”, he knows the standard he is invoking.

“So yes, he is still young, still things to develop, but many, many absolutely outstanding qualities that he has,” Alonso added.

Brazil pain, Chelsea response

For all the praise, Joao Pedro’s summer brought a jolt. Brazil named their World Cup squad and his name was missing. The decision by national coach Carlo Ancelotti – another of Alonso’s former managers at Real Madrid – raised eyebrows. A striker thriving at Chelsea, left at home for the biggest tournament of all.

Joao Pedro did not hide the hurt. Alonso called it “painful” for his player, a moment that could have lingered. Instead, it seems to have sharpened him.

He has since been recalled to the Brazil squad for September’s internationals against New Zealand and India, a swift sign that his form in London is becoming impossible to ignore.

Asked if that World Cup omission had lit a fire under his striker, Alonso pushed back on the idea that Joao Pedro needed any extra fuel.

“He had enough motivation,” the Chelsea boss said. “He already had enough within him, so I didn't need to go there. It was painful for him, but that is in the past. We are now focused on what he is doing well and what he can do better.

“He has been outstanding. Not just in football terms, but in his personality, his maturity and his desire. He has a very clear goal this season, which is to have a great campaign and score a lot of goals.”

The target is set. The shirt is his. The comparisons are as big as they come: Haaland for output, Benzema for completeness. Now the question is simple: can Joao Pedro turn this explosive start into the kind of season that makes those names feel less like flattery and more like his peer group?