Watford manager Rob Edwards has responded to reports linking João Pedro with a summer move to Newcastle United after last night’s draw at Birmingham City.
The Hornets boss believes he would “really benefit” from another full season at Vicarage Road, insisting that Pedro is still “fully committed” to the club.
It was confirmed earlier this week that we had an opening bid – in the region of £20m – rejected for the Brazilian forward, and it seems the club are likely to return with a new improved offer soon.
The 20-year-old played the full 90 minutes in Watford’s 1-1 draw at Birmingham on Tuesday night, although fellow attacker Ismaila Sarr missed out on a night that saw him heavily linked with a potential move to Crystal Palace.
Here’s what Edwards told The Athletic after the game, insisting the youngster is dealing with the rumours “very, very well” as he encouraged the former Fluminense star to stay put:
“Joao Pedro is already a very good player, I think he’s going to be an excellent footballer.
“I do believe this is the right place for him at the moment. I think he would really benefit from playing a full season with us and obviously helping the football club to where we want to be.
“I think he can play a huge part in that. I think he’s fully committed to that. He’s so mature for a young age and he understands what he needs to do as well.
“With him, you wouldn’t know anything was going on at all, he’s fully focused on his job and fully focused on playing for this football club. I think you could see that, probably one or two little bits I’d expect him to be slightly better in at the top end of the pitch, but I thought his commitment and some of the stuff he did was first class.
“The amazing thing about Joao is he’s so intelligent, I can play him in different areas of the pitch and he still finds a way to influence the game even when we went 4-4-2 at the end to really try and push, put him out on the right and he still finds the right spaces and trying to create.
“Joao is fully committed on the here and now and obviously he can’t control anything that happens externally so he’s dealing with everything very, very well.”
