Xabi Alonso Praises Joao Pedro as Future Star

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.”

No caveats. No soft landing. Just a clear statement that his 24-year-old Brazilian, three games into the new Premier League season, is operating at the level of Manchester City’s goal machine.

Joao Pedro has started this campaign at full tilt: two goals, two assists in his first three league matches, form that has already earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award. It is the first time he has claimed the prize, edging out team-mate Cole Palmer, who took it back in September 2024.

For Alonso, though, this is not a story about a hot streak. It is about a striker he believes can shape an era.

A No 9 with a 10’s brain

Chelsea tied Joao Pedro down last month with a new contract running to 2034 and handed him the club’s number nine shirt before the season began. The weight of that jersey at Stamford Bridge is real. He has embraced it.

He became the first Chelsea striker since Diego Costa to hit 20 goals in a single season during his debut campaign. Across 57 matches since arriving last summer, he has 25 goals and 11 assists. Those are serious numbers for a player who is not, by nature, a pure penalty-box finisher.

Set them alongside Haaland and the contrast sharpens. In his last 57 games for City, the Norwegian has 42 goals and nine assists – a devastating, single-minded scorer who lives to finish moves. Joao Pedro, by comparison, has roamed across the front line and beyond it: as a midfielder, a No 10, a winger, as well as a centre-forward.

That versatility is exactly what excites Alonso.

Unlike Haaland, who operates as a specialist, Joao Pedro carries a broader tool kit. He drops into pockets, links play, drifts wide, attacks crosses, and still finds time to arrive in the box with menace. A striker, yes. But also a creator, a connector, a problem for defenders in every channel.

Echoes of Benzema

Alonso knows what a complete forward looks like. He played 195 times alongside Karim Benzema at Real Madrid, watching close-up as the Frenchman evolved from promising youngster into Ballon d’Or winner.

So when he says Joao Pedro reminds him of Benzema, people listen.

“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.

That word “complete” matters. Benzema built a career on being more than a finisher – a forward who could orchestrate as well as execute. Across 994 appearances for France, Lyon, Real Madrid and Saudi Arabian sides Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal, he has 523 goals and a catalogue of performances defined as much by subtlety as by scoring.

Alonso sees the same breadth in Joao Pedro’s game. A forward who can hurt you with a first-time finish, a deft lay-off, a clever run into the left channel, or a towering header. Someone who reads the game, not just the goal.

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

From Brazil heartbreak to renewed drive

The rise has not been without setbacks. Joao Pedro’s omission from Brazil’s World Cup squad this summer stunned many observers and clearly stung the player himself. A forward in that kind of form, left at home while the national team travelled without him.

Alonso, though, insists the snub did not need to be turned into a motivational tool.

“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.”

Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti, who once managed Alonso at Real Madrid, has already moved to correct the omission. Joao Pedro has been recalled for September’s internationals against New Zealand and India, a sign that his club form is now impossible to ignore.

At Chelsea, his response has been emphatic. He has not just produced goals and assists; he has taken on responsibility.

“He has been outstanding,” Alonso said. “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.”

A striker built for the modern game

That clarity shows on the pitch. Joao Pedro plays like a man who knows exactly what he wants from this season: to lead the line for Chelsea, to cement his place with Brazil, to prove that comparisons with Haaland and Benzema are not outlandish but earned.

Haaland will always be the benchmark for sheer volume of goals. Benzema remains the reference point for the modern, all-round centre-forward. Joao Pedro now stands in the space between them – a No 9 with a No 10’s instincts, trusted to carry the most scrutinised shirt at Stamford Bridge.

Alonso has placed him in elite company. The rest of the season will reveal whether Joao Pedro stays there.