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Neto Doubtful For Chelsea Quarter-Final After Jota’s Death
Jota, who also played alongside Neto at Wolves, died on Thursday following a car crash in Spain.
Pedro Neto could miss Chelsea’s Club World Cup quarter-final against Palmeiras following the death of his former Wolves team-mate Diogo Jota.
Liverpool forward Jota, who is also an international team-mate of Neto’s for Portugal, died on Thursday following a car crash in Spain.
Neto did not train following the news and manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed he will be granted compassionate leave should he want it.
The Blues face the Brazilian outfit on Friday evening (2am Saturday UK) at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Maresca said: “It’s a very sad day. I struggle to find words because it’s very difficult, the feeling that you have is of helplessness in this kind of situation.
“The only thing I can say is all my love to his family, the people in this moment. It’s a big tragedy for them.
“In terms of Pedro it is very sad, probably more than sad.
“It’s completely Pedro’s decision. I had a chat with Pedro and we support him. Any decision he will take is the correct one.
“It doesn’t matter if he’ll be on the pitch or not. We’ll see how he is feeling but, in any case, we’re going to support him.”
The game could see Chelsea come up against the teenage Brazilian forward Estevao Willian, who is due to join them after the tournament.
The highly-rated 18-year-old agreed a move to Stamford Bridge last year and the current competition in the United States is his final assignment with Palmeiras.
Maresca said: “When we prepare for games, we prepare thinking about the team, not the players that are on the other side, and we have done exactly the same in this game.
“We prepare for the game against Palmeiras, not against Estevao. In this moment he is a Palmeiras player.
“We don’t care if in the future he will be with us when this competition is finished. The only thing we are focused on is doing our best to try to beat Palmeiras.”
Chelsea have a fitness doubt over Romeo Lavia due to a muscular injury and fellow midfielder Moises Caicedo is suspended.
Forward Joao Pedro could make his debut after completing his £60million move from Brighton earlier this week.
Maresca said: “Joao’s situation is a bit strange or different because he was on holiday. Even if he was working it is not the same when you work for yourself, compared with when you work with the team.
“But we are very happy with Joao. In the last two days he worked with us. We’ll see if we need him and if we have a chance to give him some minutes we’re going to give him some minutes.”
Shropshirestar.com
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