Joao Pedro admits he has struggled against defender Chelsea once wanted to sign

Across all competitions, the forward has scored 20 goals outright. All in all, it has not been a bad debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.

Joao Pedro has found Gabriel difficult to play against

One team who have managed to prevent Pedro from finding the back of the net this term are Arsenal, who have the best central defensive partnership in the Premier League in Gabriel and William Saliba.

Pedro recently discussed Gabriel, explaining how difficult it is to play against his compatriot.

In an interview with TNT Sports Brazil, Pedro said: “He is so fast and so strong, but it is his positioning that is the most difficult thing. Every time I thought I had a yard of space, he was already there. It felt like he knew what I was going to do before I did it.”

Gabriel and Arsenal have faced Chelsea four times this season, winning three of those London derbies.

They are now on course to win the title, while Pedro and Chelsea will not even be in the Champions League next year.

Pedro is now being linked to Barcelona, but it would be a shock if the Blues sold their best forward this term.

Gabriel could have been a Chelsea player

Pedro and Gabriel are Brazil teammates and could have been Chelsea teammates if the Club World Cup winners signed the latter in 2020.

Chelsea were interested in Gabriel when he was still at Lille, but a transfer never materialised. Instead, Gabriel went on to join Arsenal and is now close to helping them win their first Premier League title since 2004.

As for Chelsea, again, they will be fortunate to be in a European competition next term. They are lacking a powerful and dominant central defender like Gabriel.

If the Conference League holders had a centre-half in his mould, they would not be ninth in the Premier League table. Levi Colwill has at least recovered from his ACL injury, shining in his side’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool over the weekend.