Sam Allardyce says Chelsea have a £60m player who’s even better than Viktor Gyokeres

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Chelsea enquired about signing Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP in the summer, but he ended up on the red side of London by joining Arsenal.

The Blues used the previous transfer window to improve their squad again, particularly in the forward areas of the pitch.

Back in May, reports claimed that Chelsea enquired about signing Gyokeres, who scored 54 goals across all competitions last season for Sporting. Eventually, the 27-year-old centre-forward completed a move to Premier League rivals Arsenal in July.

As for Chelsea, they splashed out £60m (BBC) for Brazilian forward Joao Pedro from Brighton. They also snapped up English striker Liam Delap from Ipswich Town, too.

• READ MORE: Joao Pedro headlines list of five Chelsea players who missed out on international call-up

Sam Allardyce rates Joao Pedro over Viktor Gyokeres

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football show, Sam Allardyce actually rated Chelsea’s Pedro as the fourth best striker in the Premier League right now. Meanwhile, Arsenal frontman Gyokeres only ranked in eighth spot.

When discussing Pedro, Allardyce said: “I think that over the last few years he has proven to be a top player who can score goals. I think that he is what we all want to see. I would like to see a lot more strikers in the Premier League than there are now.”

Even though Pedro has had small injury problems this campaign, he’s started every single league match. Whether he’s playing as a number 10 or the central striker, the South American star has looked crucial to Enzo Maresca’s system immediately.

There is definitely still a debate about where his best position on the football pitch actually is, but he’s definitely got a composure in front of goal that most forwards would love.

Oscar’s glowing verdict on Pedro is that he’s become the face of Chelsea in the space of a few months. Let’s wait and see where he’s at after a full season under scrutiny at Stamford Bridge, though.

Joao Pedro vs Viktor Gyokeres

In 12 Chelsea appearances, Pedro has impressed by scoring five goals and creating three assists, including in the Club World Cup in the summer.

In contrast, Gyokeres has started life in North London this season with three goals in 10 appearances.

On paper, the Arsenal forward has the bigger expectation on his shoulders to deliver a huge volume of goals this season. His history would suggest he’s a better goalscorer than the Chelsea attacker, plus he’s entering the prime years of his career.

At the moment, we would argue the Chelsea signing has got off to the brighter start at his new club, but there’s a long way to go in the 2025-26 season.