Manchester City officials chartered aircraft to sign Chelsea forward as a teenager | OneFootball

Manchester City sent club officials on a plane to try and sign Chelsea forward Pedro Neto during his time with the SC Braga Under-17s in Pep Guardiola’s early years at the Etihad Stadium, it has been revealed.

Neto has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign at Stamford Bridge working with former Manchester City assistant manager Enzo Maresca in west London since signing from Wolves for a reported fee of £54 million last summer.

The Portugal international quickly made his name as one of England’s most exciting wide forwards after joining Wolves from Lazio in the summer of 2019 before earning a well-deserved transfer to Chelsea at the start of the current campaign.

Manchester City have a busy summer ahead as they plan for a major squad rebuild and expected clearout amongst the current first-team ranks, with Guardiola expected to be heavily backed in the transfer market by incoming sporting director Hugo Viana.

Pep Guardiola only added Savinho to his squad last summer despite there being a consensus amongst the board at the time there needed to be much more a change in the first-team, which failed to materialise owing to uncertainty over Guardiola’s long-term future at the time.

However, the Catalan put pen to paper in the fall of 2024 and has committed his future until 2027 to Manchester City, who will give the 54-year-old the ammunition he desperately needs to build a winning team again after a sub-par season that saw his side fail to mount a challenge in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

In a stunning revelation by Give Me Sport, it has come to light that Manchester City attempted to sign Pedro Neto from SC Braga whilst the current Chelsea winger was starring for the Portuguese outfit’s U-17 ranks in Guardiola’s early years in charge of the 2023 treble winners.

Former Braga coach Rui Costa told Give Me Sport: “When Pedro Neto played for the Under-17 side at Braga, Manchester City had a great interest in him. They even sent a private plane to take him to the club and show him around.

“He is now performing at a high level at Chelsea and has a magical quality to his game. For me, he is best suited to play on the right wing, where he can use his speed and skill to cut inside and create goalscoring opportunities.

“Pedro is capable of leading the line, but I don’t think this is the best strategy. He has quick decision-making and speed of execution. He is good one-on-one, but he is less strong when keeping the ball as a striker or playing with his back to the goal.”

It is interesting to now wonder how things might have panned out had Guardiola succesfully secured the arrival of Neto whilst the now Chelsea man was still a teenager and making a strong impression in his homeland.

Manchester City have possessed a strong and ever-growing Portuguese influence amongst the first-team over the years and that contingent has gained further strength in the last two years following the arrivals of Matheus Nunes from Wolves and Hugo Viana as director of football.

For now, Guardiola has a rich pick of options in the wide attacking positions and that is one of the few areas of the squad that need addressing as the season comes to a close and Manchester City map a revamp of their current crop of options to go full throttle next term.