Despite being part of a team full of stars, Pedro always had a part to play in Barcelona’s team.
He faced competition from players like Alexis Sanchez, David Villa, Christian Tello and Luis Suarez but still had a role at the Catalan giants.
And since joining Chelsea, despite good performances, he is perennially undervalued by many.
Due to the nature of the team, Pedro and Willian have always been competing for one spot with Eden Hazard filling the other.
And in his three full seasons with the Blues, Pedro’s highest goal-scoring tally is just 13.
But the Spaniard has had the hot hand at the season under Maurizio Sarri.
Three goals in the league already has put him firmly as the preferred starter ahead of Willian.
But after picking up an injury in Chelsea’s 1-0 over PAOK in the Europa League, Pedro missed Chelsea’s trip to face West Ham on Sunday.
And Chelsea’s inability to break down the Hammers’ stout defence showed Sarri how vital Pedro is to him.
His ability to work in tight spaces and link almost telepathically with Hazard lends him to playing in matches where Chelsea dominate possession.
Which is exactly what Sarri’s philosophy demands, as they’ve had 65.5% of the ball in the league this season.
And against West Ham, Chelsea missed his neat first-time touches in-between the lines to break them down.
Willian still has a role to play, as he showed his value against PAOK where he scored the winner.
Sarri will be counting down the days until Pedro is back if he wants to continue his good start as Chelsea manager.