Joao Pedro: Chelsea's Rising Star Compared to Haaland and Benzema
Xabi Alonso did not flinch. Asked if Joao Pedro belongs in the same bracket as Erling Haaland, the Chelsea head coach simply said: “I would say yes.”
A bold line to draw, but Alonso kept going. He went further back into his own career and reached for one of the greats.
“In many things he reminds me of Benzema,” he added, thinking of those years alongside Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. “He is very complete, he is intelligent.”
For a 24-year-old who only joined Chelsea last summer, that is serious company.
Haaland numbers, Benzema profile
Joao Pedro has started this season like a player intent on justifying that praise. Two goals, two assists in his first three league games, and on Friday he was named the Premier League’s Player of the Month for the first time in his career.
He edged out team-mate Cole Palmer for the award, the same Palmer who took the prize back in September 2024. At Stamford Bridge, the spotlight is moving.
The Brazilian has already rewritten one line of Chelsea history. In his debut campaign he became the club’s first striker since Diego Costa to hit 20 goals in a single season. Across all competitions since arriving last summer, he has 25 goals and 11 assists in 57 matches.
Stack those numbers up against Haaland and the comparison sharpens. In his last 57 games for Manchester City, the Norway striker has scored 42 times and produced nine assists. Haaland remains the pure finisher, the penalty-box predator.
Joao Pedro is something else. A forward who has drifted through roles as a midfielder, a No 10 and a winger, he offers a broader canvas. He can drop short, slide left, link play, attack crosses, and still finish like a centre-forward. That’s the Benzema echo Alonso hears.
“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,” Alonso said. “He is very complete.”
When a manager who shared a dressing room with a Ballon d’Or winner talks like that, people listen.
Chelsea’s new No 9 with a decade to define
Chelsea have already nailed their colours to this particular mast. Last month Joao Pedro signed a new contract that runs until 2034, a statement deal that hands him the club’s No 9 shirt and, with it, the responsibility that number has always carried in west London.
The shirt has weighed heavily on others. It does not seem to bother him.
Alonso is convinced the ceiling is still a long way off. “He is still young, still things to develop,” the Spaniard admitted, before returning again to that list of “absolutely outstanding qualities.”
The message from the touchline is clear: this is the man to build around.
Brazil pain, new drive
The story has not been smooth. Joao Pedro’s omission from Brazil’s World Cup squad in the summer stunned plenty outside the camp. Inside Chelsea’s dressing room, it hurt the player.
The snub came from Carlo Ancelotti, the Brazil coach who once managed Alonso at Real Madrid. It could easily have become a lingering wound.
Alonso insists it has not defined his striker, but he does not pretend it was easy.
“It was painful for him, but that is in the past,” he said. “We are now focused on what he is doing well and what he can do better.”
Brazil have already rowed back. Joao Pedro has been recalled for September’s internationals against New Zealand and India, a swift acknowledgement of his form and growing status.
On the training pitches at Cobham, Alonso sees more than just goals.
“He has been outstanding. Not just in football terms, but in his personality, his maturity and his desire,” the Chelsea boss said. “He has a very clear goal this season, which is to have a great campaign and score a lot of goals.”
The comparisons with Haaland and Benzema will follow him now. The question is no longer whether he belongs in that conversation, but how long he can stay there.
