Pedro Neto
Neto with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022
Personal information
Full name Pedro Lomba Neto[1]
Date of birth (2000-03-09) 9 March 2000 (age 23)[2]
Place of birth Viana do Castelo, Portugal[3]
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[3]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number 7
Youth career
2008–2010 Vianense
2010–2013 Perspectiva em Jogo
2013–2015 Braga
2015–2016 Palmeiras Braga
2016–2017 Braga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 Braga B 1 (0)
2017–2019 Braga 3 (1)
2017–2019 → Lazio (loan) 4 (0)
2019– Wolverhampton Wanderers 103 (10)
International career‡
2016–2017 Portugal U17 9 (1)
2017–2018 Portugal U18 3 (0)
2017–2019 Portugal U19 7 (4)
2017–2019 Portugal U20 11 (1)
2019–2023 Portugal U21 10 (3)
2020– Portugal 5 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:29, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:39, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

Pedro Lomba Neto (European Portuguese: [ˈpeðɾu ˈnɛtu]; born 9 March 2000) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team.

He started his career at Braga, who loaned him to Italian club Lazio in the summer of 2017. In 2019, he signed with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

A former Portugal international at youth level, Neto made his full debut in November 2020, scoring in his first match.

Club career

Braga

Born in Viana do Castelo, Neto joined Braga's youth system at the age of 13. On 7 May 2017, whilst still a junior, he made his professional debut with their reserves, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–3 home loss against Porto B in the Segunda Liga.[4] The following weekend, in his first Primeira Liga appearance with the first team, he scored after only a few minutes on the pitch, helping the hosts defeat already relegated Nacional 4–0 and becoming the club's youngest ever goal scorer in the competition.[5][6]

On 31 August 2017, both Neto and teammate Bruno Jordão were loaned to Lazio of Italy for two years, with an obligation to buy both players for a combined €26 million.[7][8] He only played his first match in Serie A on 27 January 2019, replacing Bastos in the last-minute of the 1–2 home loss to Juventus.[9]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 2 August 2019, Neto signed with Wolverhampton Wanderers.[10] He made his debut twelve days later in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round against Pyunik, scoring and providing an assist for Morgan Gibbs-White in a 4–0 home win (8–0 aggregate).[11] His maiden appearance in the Premier League took place a few days later in the same month, when he came on for compatriot Diogo Jota late on in the 1–1 home draw with Manchester United.[12]

Neto in the crowd of a Wolves match in August 2021

Neto's first league start occurred on 28 September 2019, when he assisted Matt Doherty's opening goal in a 2–0 victory over Watford at Molineux.[13] After having what would have been his first goal in the competition ruled out controversially by VAR at Liverpool on 29 December,[14] he scored in the next game (a 2–1 away loss to Watford on 1 January 2020), becoming the first teenager to achieve the feat for the club in the Premier League in the process.[15]

On 4 October 2020, Neto scored his first league goal for Wolves in the 2020–21 campaign in the 1–0 home defeat of Fulham.[16] A month later, he extended his contract to 2025.[17]

Neto was Sky Sports' player of the match in a league game with Arsenal on 29 November 2020, in which he scored once and set up Daniel Podence for his team's second goal in the game as they ran out 2–1 winners in their first away victory against that opposition since 1979.[18] He suffered a serious knee injury in the first half of the 1–0 away defeat of Fulham on 9 April 2021,[19][20] which ruled him out for the remainder of that season and the bulk of the following.[21][22] He finally returned on 20 February 2022, as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 home win over Leicester City.[23]

On 9 March 2022, Neto's 22nd birthday, he agreed to a new deal running until 2027.[24] On 22 May, the last day of the campaign, he scored his first goal for the club since his injury, opening an eventual 3–1 loss at Liverpool in the third minute.[25]

Neto made his 100th competitive appearance on 17 September 2022, in a 0–3 home defeat against Manchester City.[26] The following month, he suffered an ankle injury that required surgery and sidelined him for nearly five months.[27] He returned to action on 4 March 2023, playing the first half of the 1–0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.[28]

Neto played his 100th match in the English top tier on 21 October 2023, in a 2–1 away victory against AFC Bournemouth where he also assisted Matheus Cunha, his sixth decisive pass of the new season.[29] He scored his first-ever FA Cup goal on 28 January 2024, opening the 2–0 win at West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round.[30]

International career

On 5 September 2019, aged 19, Neto won his first cap for Portugal at under-21 level, playing the first half of a 4–0 win against Gibraltar in the 2021 UEFA European Championship qualification campaign, held in Alverca do Ribatejo.[31] On 5 November 2020, he had his first call-up to the senior team, for matches against Andorra and France.[32] He debuted on 11 November in a 7–0 home friendly win over the former, scored the first goal[33] and became the first player born in the 2000s to represent the nation.[34]

Neto was ruled out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, due to an injury suffered with his club.[27]

Personal life

Neto's uncle, Sérgio Lomba, was also a footballer.[35]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 28 January 2024[36]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Braga 2016–17[37] Primeira Liga 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
2017–18[38] Primeira Liga 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Lazio (loan) 2018–19[39] Serie A 4 0 1 0 — 0 0 5 0
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2019–20[40] Premier League 29 3 2 0 2 0 11[c] 2 44 5
2020–21[41] Premier League 31 5 3 0 1 0 — 35 5
2021–22[42] Premier League 13 1 0 0 0 0 — 13 1
2022–23[43] Premier League 18 0 0 0 1 0 — 19 0
2023–24[44] Premier League 12 1 3 1 0 0 — 15 2
Total 103 10 8 1 4 0 11 2 126 13
Career total 110 11 9 1 4 0 11 2 134 14
  1. ^ Includes Coppa Italia, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 16 October 2023[45]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Portugal 2020 1 1
2021 2 0
2023 2 0
Total 5 1
As of match played 30 March 2021
Portugal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Neto goal[45]
List of international goals scored by Pedro Neto
No. Cap Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 1 11 November 2020 Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal  Andorra 1–0 7–0 Friendly

Honours

Lazio

References

  1. ^ "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Portugal" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Pedro Neto". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). IOL. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Sp. Braga B-FC Porto B, 2–3: Vitória garante permanência aos dragões" [Sp. Braga B-FC Porto B, 2–3: Win confirms permanence for dragons]. Record (in Portuguese). 7 May 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Sp. Braga-Nacional, 4–0 (resultado final)" [Sp. Braga-Nacional, 4–0 (final score)]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). IOL. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Jovem de 17 anos fez história pelo Sp. Braga com este golo" [17-year-old youth made history for Sp. Braga with this goal]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 May 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Comunicato 31.08.17" [Announcement 31.08.17] (in Italian). S.S. Lazio. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. ^ Rindone, Daniele (31 August 2017). "Lazio, i baby d'oro Neto e Jordao pagati 26 milioni" [Lazio, golden babies Neto and Jordao cost 26 million]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Lazio 1–2 Juventus". Football Italia. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Comunicato 02.08.2019" [Announcement 02.08.2019] (in Italian). S.S. Lazio. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  11. ^ Doyle, Paul (14 August 2019). "Wolves face Torino after stroll on easy street seeing off Pyunik". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  12. ^ Stone, Simon (19 August 2019). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  13. ^ Stone, Simon (28 September 2019). "Wolves 2–0 Watford: Wolves beat Watford for first Premier League win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  14. ^ Sanders, Emma (29 December 2019). "Liverpool 1–0 Wolves: Sadio Mane scores winner to send Reds 13 points clear". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  15. ^ Magowan, Alistair (1 January 2020). "Watford 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  16. ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (4 October 2020). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Fulham: Pedro Neto's goal condemns visitors to fourth straight loss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Pedro Neto: Wolves winger commits to club until 2025". BBC Sport. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  18. ^ Walker, Ron (29 November 2020). "Arsenal 1–2 Wolves: Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence give Nuno Espirito Santo's side first win at Gunners since 1979". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  19. ^ Dawkes, Phil (9 April 2021). "Fulham 0–1 Wolves: Adama Traore with stoppage-time winner for visitors". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  20. ^ Ames, Nick (9 April 2021). "Adama Traoré's late Wolves winner leaves Fulham in big relegation trouble". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  21. ^ Edwards, Joe (13 April 2021). "Wolves key man Pedro Neto to undergo knee surgery". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  22. ^ Ramsdale, Ben (1 December 2021). "Wolves injury report: Who's in and who's out for Wolverhampton Wanderers for Burnley clash". BirminghamWorld. JPIMedia Publishing. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  23. ^ Stone, Simon (20 February 2022). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 Leicester City: Daniel Podence nets winner for Wolves". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Wolves: Pedro Neto signs new five-year contract until 2027". BBC Sport. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  25. ^ Rose, Gary (22 May 2022). "Liverpool 3–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Reds victory not enough as Man City win title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  26. ^ Stone, Simon (17 September 2022). "Wolves 0–3 Manchester City: Erling Haaland scores again in dominant win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  27. ^ a b Dicken, Alex (7 October 2022). "Wolves suffer major blow as extent of Pedro Neto injury revealed". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  28. ^ Millington, Adam (4 March 2023). "Wolves 1–0 Tottenham: Traoré seals win which damages visitors' Champions League qualification bid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  29. ^ Mail, Simon (21 October 2023). "Kalajdzic completes Wolves comeback win at 10-man Bournemouth". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  30. ^ Stone, Simon (28 January 2024). "West Brom 0–2 Wolves: Visitors progress after crowd trouble sees game suspended". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  31. ^ Amaro, Miguel (5 September 2019). "Portugal arranca qualificação com goleada" [Portugal get qualifying campaign started with rout]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  32. ^ Edwards, Joe (5 November 2020). "Wolves star Pedro Neto included in Portugal squad". Express & Star. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  33. ^ Cole, Richard (11 November 2020). "Debutants shine as Portugal put seven past Andorra". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  34. ^ "Pedro Neto, o primeiro jogador dos anos 2000 da seleção que fazia lembrar Messi" [Pedro Neto, the first national team player of the 2000s who reminded of Messi] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  35. ^ "Pedro Neto: recusou o Barça e aos 17 anos já marca pelo Braga" [Pedro Neto: he rejected Barça and is already scoring for Braga at 17]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 14 May 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  36. ^ Pedro Neto at Soccerway
  37. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  38. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  39. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  40. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  41. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  42. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  43. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  44. ^ "Games played by Pedro Neto in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  45. ^ a b "Pedro Neto". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  46. ^ "Match report | 2018–19 | Finale" [Match report | 2018–19 | Final] (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2022.

External links

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. – current squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Player of the Year
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