Chelsea will allow Pedro Neto the choice whether he wants to play against Palmeiras or not following the tragic death of Diogo Jota.
Neto was absent from the Blues’ training session on Thursday after he was informed of the devastating news regarding his former Wolves and Portugal teammate.
GettyNeto and Jota were close pals on and off the pitch[/caption]Jota’s death sent shockwaves through the football community as tributes poured in, while several Liverpool fans called for the forward’s No.20 shirt to be retired.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea‘s Club World Cup quarter-final against Palmeiras at 2am BST on Saturday, manager Enzo Maresca confirmed Neto had been granted compassionate leave and the star winger would have the full support of the club no matter what.
“It’s completely Pedro’s decision,” Maresca said.
“I had a chat this morning with Pedro. We support him.
“Any decision he will take is the correct one, and we are going to support him in any case.
“So it doesn’t matter if we’ll be in the pitch or not.
“Tomorrow, we’ll see how he is feeling. But in any case, we’re gonna support him.”
Maresca added it was ‘a very sad day’ for football and struggled to find the right words to describe the feeling.
“You know, the feeling that you are, that you feel a little bit, you know, helpless in this kind of situation, and the only thing I can say, you know, all my love to, you know, his family, the people that in this moment, it’s a big tragedy for them,” Maresca said.
“And then in terms of Pedro, he’s very sad, probably more than sad, but we are also close to Pedro to support him in this moment.”
Neto and Jota played 21 matches alongside each other for club and country.
Neto has scored in every appearance for Chelsea at the Club World CupFIFA via GettyThe duo became teammates at Wolves when Neto joined in 2019 from Braga for an estimated £18million.
Jota was already at Molineux to welcome his countryman having joined the Black Country side in 2017 on loan from Atletico Madrid.
The 28-year-old slammed home 17 league goals in his first season as Wolves cruised to the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League.
Jota joined on a permanent basis in the summer of 2018 and backed up his impressive debut campaign with nine league goals as Wolves record a dazzling 7th-place finish.
Neto and Jota first shared the pitch in a competitive fixture for Wolves in the third game of the 2019/20 season as they drew 1-1 with Burnley.
Unfortunately it was the only campaign they played together at Wolves as Jota secured a dream £45m move to Liverpool in September 2020.
Jota was one of Wolves’ finest for three seasons before he moved to LiverpoolAFPThe duo would rekindle their on-field partnership at international level in March 2021 during a 3-1 win over Luxembourg during the 2022 World Cup qualification process.
Jota and Neto’s last appearance on a football pitch was in October 2024 as Portugal ran out 3-1 victors over Poland.
Though the pair helped Portugal win the Nations League last month, with Jota replacing Neto in the semi-final clash with Germany and final against Spain.
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