Pedro Neto has opened up on his journey to Chelsea, saying that he "suffered to arrive here."
The Portugal international joined the Blues this summer from Wolverhampton Wanderers in a deal worth £54 million.
Since the move, he's scored three goals and assisted three more in 15 games, and has established himself as regular starter in the Premier League for Enzo Maresca's side.
Prior to his arrival at Stamford Bridge, Neto's career was full of challenges.
As a teenager, he endured long commutes from his home town of Viana do Castelo to Braga, where he was part of the academy, while during his time in Italy with Lazio, he was restricted to just four appearances in two years.
At Wolves, whom he joined in 2019, though Neto made 135 appearances, he missed almost two entire seasons worth of football with a succession of different injuries.
"Everything I have today, I give big value to because I know what I suffered to arrive here," Neto said during an interview with Chelsea's official website.
"The thing I always had from my family, from my parents and my grandparents, is to be humble. That is one thing that has always stayed with me in my head. Without being humble, you don’t go anywhere," he explained. "The other thing is fighting until the end. Fighting until you reach what you want."
Reflecting on his injury-hit time at Molineux, the 24-year-old described it as "difficult."
"Sometimes I have to remember what I passed so I can enjoy it even more," he said." It was really hard losing almost two years of football to injury."
Neto loving life at Chelsea
In a separate interview with Sky Sports earlier this month, Neto also spoke about his injury problems at Wolves and how they impacted his start to life at Chelsea.
Neto was used mostly as substitute by Maresca in his early days as a Chelsea player, but since replacing Jadon Sancho midway through the Blues' defeat to Liverpool in mid-October, he's been a mainstay on the left-wing.
"When I arrived at Chelsea I was really thankful, but I had been injured," he said. "I knew it would take time to get into the best shape, and here I am today working hard and trying to get into the best shape I can.
"At the moment, I feel really good," he added.
In his most recent start against Arsenal, Neto scored his first top flight goal for Chelsea to rescue a well-deserved point in a 1-1 draw.
Speaking after the game, the Portuguese star described the goal as "special."
"I’m really pleased to help the team," he said. "This is a group that works really hard every day, so to help the team makes me really happy."
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