The article discusses how striker Joao Pedro has become one of the Premier League's top performers since joining Chelsea last summer for £60 million. Despite former Brighton manager Enzo Maresca’s doubts about his goal-scoring potential, Pedro scored eight goals in seven pre-season games and continued with strong performances, including five goals and three assists this season. The article highlights Pedro’s efficiency, noting he has the best conversion rate of any player with at least five attempts on target. It also mentions that Chelsea's long-standing curse associated with the No9 shirt appears to be over as Pedro continues to impress under manager Xabi Alonso.
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Story summary
Joao Pedro, a striker for Chelsea, is rapidly becoming one of the top players in the Premier League. Despite former Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca's previous doubts about his goal-scoring ability, Joao Pedro has scored five goals and provided three assists this season, surpassing even Manchester City’s star forward Erling Haaland in productivity. With an impressive eight pre-season goals in seven games, Joao Pedro continues to prove critics wrong, cementing Chelsea’s longstanding curse of the No9 shirt as officially over. His performance suggests that he is now a benchmark for other strikers in the league to strive towards.
Written for “Joao Pedro Premier League Success” on 2026-10-12,
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We have almost reached the one-year anniversary of an Enzo Maresca quote that is increasingly likely to age like fresh cream - and it has nothing to do with recent developments at the club who now employ him.
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who → reach → him
Joao Pedro’s numbers last season and his superb start to the new campaign present a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that, at the very least, it was unwise of Maresca to so confidently insist the striker is “not a No9 that is going to score 20 goals each year”.
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that → present → goals
The former Chelsea head coach is fortunate at Manchester City to be able to call on the Premier League’s best striker, Erling Haaland, but it is Joao Pedro who is the division’s finest No9 on current form.
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who → call → form
Haaland has six goals in as many top-flight games this season, yet five-goal Joao Pedro’s involvement in build-up play is far greater, and his tally of three league assists to Haaland’s zero demonstrates how he is the most productive striker in the world’s toughest league.
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he → have → league
He scored eight goals in seven games during pre-season and has backed that up when it matters, tallying more goal involvements than any Premier League player so far this term.
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it → score → player
It was inevitable that 36-year-old Jordan Henderson - on the day he scored his first Premier League brace since 2014 - would receive the bulk of the plaudits after Saturday’s 5-1 win over Bournemouth, yet that saw a clinical double of his own by Joao Pedro slip slightly under the radar.
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double → score → radar
The Brazilian has taken to life at Chelsea like a duck to water since his £60million move from Brighton last summer, and it was a fair measure of his elite mentality and hunger to strive for even more that he looked gutted to come off when substituted after 72 minutes.
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he → take → minutes
His manager, Xabi Alonso, sensed this, whispering an explanation in his ear, trying to keep his most ruthless finisher onside.
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manager → sense → finisher
Some data companies’ models rate Joao Pedro as the best player in the league this season.
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models → rate → league
He has scored with five of his 13 shots on target - the best conversion rate of any player with at least five attempts.
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He → score → attempts
It appears so certain the 25-year-old will continue to net regularly that it feels no risk to declare Chelsea’s decades-old curse of the No9 shirt officially over.
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curse → appear → shirt
Despite Maresca’s comments, Joao Pedro scored 20 goals and assisted a further eight across all competitions in his debut campaign for Chelsea.
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Pedro → score → Chelsea
He has already shown signs of refining and improving his game this season, since taking the No9 shirt off Liam Delap following the end of the Englishman’s failed experiment at Stamford Bridge.
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He → show → Bridge
The shirt’s current incumbent continues to enjoy a rather more fruitful time in west London and has even had a custom ‘9’ necklace made, the number enveloped by two miniature arms that replicate his goal celebration.
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that → continue → celebration
Joao Pedro’s first goal against Bournemouth was a strike that is fast becoming his trademark first-time finish, an unerring right-footed effort arrowed high into the roof of the net from a cross that most forwards would need a first touch to control.
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forwards → become → touch
It feels no risk to declare Chelsea’s decades-old curse of the No9 shirt officially over
It was as confident and cold-blooded a strike as Haaland’s opener on the turn in City’s win at Anfield, and that is the company Joao Pedro keeps these days; his level is becoming a benchmark for the rest of the division’s strikers to aim for.
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rest → feel → strikers
After missing the dire 3-0 defeat at Brentford, for which he will delight in being exempt from any share of the collective blame, Joao Pedro had the international break off and spent time seeing a specialist to try to speed up his recovery from a knee injury.
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Pedro → miss → injury
It was no coincidence that his comeback against Bournemouth also brought the return of Chelsea’s high-scoring attack after it had faltered without him.
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it → bring → him
Chelsea scored five goals from just 1.08 xG - incredibly clinical finishing led from the front by a man averaging more than a goal a game in the league this term, more than any other player who has struck more than three times.
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who → score → times
When Standard Sport sat down for an exclusive interview with Joao Pedro in September 2025, he spoke of his desire to “match” the achievements of Chelsea’s best modern striker, Didier Drogba, and his dream of becoming “a legend” at Stamford Bridge.
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he → sit → Bridge
With a contract that maps out his Chelsea future to 2034, time is on Joao Pedro’s side.
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time → map → side
The Aporia
