After Maresca left Chelsea, they drew 1-1 at Manchester Metropolis, and Sky Sports activities pundit Gary Neville singled out Neto for criticism.
“He annoyed me such as you will not consider,” Neville mentioned. “He is a smidgen away from being an Eden Hazard, however he is by no means going to be an Eden Hazard as a result of he hasn’t received that killer intuition.”
Neto solely scored 14 occasions in 135 video games for Wolves earlier than his £54m transfer in August 2024 – averaging one objective each 9.6 matches. At Chelsea, he has 19 targets in 89 video games, averaging one each 4.7.
These figures alone underline why it was at all times unrealistic to count on him to be one other Hazard, who netted 110 occasions in 352 Chelsea matches.
Neto has just one help and no targets in his previous 12 league video games, however he has 4 targets and two assists in 4 home cup fixtures – albeit three of these matches have been in opposition to decrease‑division opposition – to color a extra optimistic image.
The 25-year-old is trying fewer pictures within the league this season – 1.7 per 90 minutes in contrast with 2.3 in 2024-25 – however is getting greater‑high quality probabilities, averaging 0.11 anticipated targets per shot in comparison with 0.06. That shift explains why his conversion charge has virtually doubled, from 6.8% to 13.5%.
When it comes to output amongst gamers on the present prime six golf equipment, Leandro Trossard, Bryan Mbeumo, Mohamed Salah, Morgan Rogers and Jeremy Doku all rank greater for non‑penalty targets per 90 minutes.
However Neto is a special kind of ahead, with solely 7% of his touches coming within the opposition field – fewer than any of the gamers above him.
The place he does excel at is ball-carrying, one thing he attributes to following his father and uncles into curler hockey as a toddler. Among the many Premier League’s prime six golf equipment, solely Doku ranks greater for carries. Neto can also be second solely to Mbeumo for sprints per 90 minutes.
One in every of Neto’s standout performances got here in opposition to Paris St-Germain within the 3-0 Membership World Cup remaining win, when he man‑marked full‑again Achraf Hakimi.
One other was the night time Maresca shocked Barcelona boss Hansi Flick by deploying Neto as a striker, permitting him to take advantage of the Spanish facet’s extraordinarily excessive line together with his tempo.
Most snug on the appropriate wing, Neto has been used as a striker, left winger, wing-back and quantity 10 for Chelsea this season.
These “sacrifices” for the workforce, as Rosenior known as it, make Neto extra akin to Willian than Hazard when on the lookout for parallels from Chelsea‘s current previous.
Alongside his fingers‑in‑ears and “cease speaking” celebrations, Neto was additionally seen arguing with Tottenham followers throughout Chelsea‘s 1-0 away win in November.
In an interview final season, Neto mirrored on his celebrations, saying: “Once you win you’re the greatest and once you lose you’re the worst”.
Neto appears to easily dislike the scrutiny he receives however it has not stopped him, as he places it, “working” – serving to Chelsea and steadily enhancing his personal sport.
