Chelsea slammed for 'wasting money' on 'overhyped' Joao Pedro as fans claim Blues have been 'conned again' by Brighton

Chelsea confirmed the signing of the 23-year-old on an eight-year contract in a £60m ($81.5m) deal on Wednesday. But many football fans are baffled by the decision to spend that much on the Brighton forward, with some saying the Seagulls have "conned" the Blues again.

@Ben__LFC__ wrote on X: "£12m per non penalty goal last season, madness. 10 years ago this guys available for £7m based on output."

@BamcheUtd tweeted: "Brighton conned Chelsea again."

@mcfc_Savio put: "What a waste of money. Chelsea really don't care about trophies man."

@joel_oten commented: "Stop buying mid players. A big club like Chelsea. This guy is not getting over 20G/A next season in the EPL. Overhyped player."

@Kiswili_10 added: "Welcome to Chelsea. Just a question; What's the difference between Joao Pedro, Joao Felix and [Christopher] Nkunku?"

Chelsea have had to fork out big sums to sign Brighton players in recent years, with Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, and Robert Sanchez costing in excess of £200m ($272m) combined. Not all have been big successes, including the coaches they recruited, such as head coach Graham Potter. Pedro scored 30 goals in 70 games for Brighton, and now it remains to be seen if he can build on that success at Chelsea.

Brazil international Pedro, who initially made his name at Watford before switching to the Seagulls in 2023, could reportedly play in Chelsea's Club World Cup quarter-final clash with Palmeiras in Philadelphia on Saturday.