Chelsea star rated at the same level as Mbappe and Haaland

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior believes striker Joao Pedro now belongs to the same "group" as world-class shooters like Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe.

Joao Pedro just scored a hat-trick in Chelsea's 4-1 victory Chelsea right at Aston Villa's home ground, thereby raising his total goals to 17 across all competitions this season.

Notably, among Pedro's 14 Premier League goals this season, none came from penalty kicks. In the English Premier League, only Haaland has scored more non-penalty goals than him, with 19 goals. Within the scope of Europe's top five domestic leagues, Kane leads in this criterion with 20 goals for Bayern Munich, while Mbappe has 15 goals for Real Madrid.

When asked whether Joao Pedro is reaching such a level, Rosenior told reporters: “Joao is now in that group. During the two months I've been here, he has consistently shown himself to be a world-class striker.”

“At this moment, I wouldn't trade Joao for anyone. He is demonstrating all the qualities and elements I want to see.”, Rosenior praised his student. “The great thing about Joao is his age, he can still improve further, and I have identified some aspects Joao can work on. But the level he is displaying now is world-class, and my task, the club's task, and his own task is to maintain that.”

Pedro is aiming to become Chelsea's first true center forward to reach 20 goals in a season since Diego Costa in the 2016/17 season. During that period, Chelsea only had two players reaching this milestone: Cole Palmer scored 25 goals in the 2023/24 season as an attacking midfielder, while Eden Hazard had 21 goals in 2018/19.

Clearly Pedro is creating an impact comparable to Europe's top shooters, at least based on non-penalty goals this season. Including penalties, Joao Pedro scores 8 fewer than Haaland (Haaland has 22), 9 fewer than Mbappe (Mbappe has 23), and 16 fewer than Kane (Kane has 30).

The possibility of Pedro being assigned penalty kicks to narrow the gap with Kane or Mbappe likely won't come soon. At Chelsea, Palmer is currently the main penalty taker and has only missed 1 out of 19 since joining the club in September 2023.

Regarding assists in domestic leagues, Joao Pedro currently has 5, more than Mbappe and equal to Kane, while Haaland has 7 assists.

Joao Pedro also takes significantly fewer shots than his competitors, with only 57 attempts, much lower than the nearest Kane with 96 shots. This means his shot conversion rate is 24.6%, higher than Haaland (22.5%) and Mbappe (20.7%), though still lower than Kane (31.3%).

His first season at Chelsea is Joao Pedro's most efficient shooting season ever. However, Haaland, Kane, and Mbappe have all maintained superior output over him for multiple consecutive years.

Since the start of the 2023/24 season, when Joao Pedro moved from Watford to Brighton, he has scored 33 goals in domestic leagues, including 24 non-penalty goals, plus 14 assists.

In all three categories, the Brazilian striker still trails his group rivals. Kane leads with 92 goals, 68 non-penalty goals, and 21 assists, more than Pedro, Haaland, or Mbappe in each statistic.

Those numbers show Joao Pedro has made significant progress in his career, but to truly be ranked alongside the world's best forwards, he still needs to maintain that level across multiple consecutive seasons.