Rosenior: Joao Pedro now in same category as Kane, Haaland and Mbappé

Liam Rosenior says Chelsea have finally found a world-class successor to Diego Costa after Joao Pedro's hat-trick helped the Blues to a 4-1 win at Aston Villa. The 24-year-old's treble took him to 17 goals across all competitions this season, 14 of them in the Premier League, and all of his league strikes have come from open play.

Asked whether the forward can be compared with Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, Rosenior replied: "Joao is in that category now. In the two months I've been here, he has consistently shown he is a world‑class striker." He added that he would not swap Joao for anyone at the moment and stressed the player can still improve.

The numbers back up the manager's claim to an extent. Pedro's shot-conversion rate sits at 24.6%, higher than Haaland (22.5%) and Mbappé (20.7%), and only Haaland and Kane have scored more non-penalty goals across Europe's major leagues this term.

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