Peter Crouch says he would ‘pay to watch’ two Chelsea players | Football

Peter Crouch said he would ‘pay to watch’ two Chelsea players after their emphatic Premier League victory over Aston Villa.

Liam Rosenior’s side ended a run of three league games without a win by thrashing top-four rivals Villa 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Chelsea trailed to Douglas Luiz’s early opener but turned the game around through Joao Pedro’s superb hat-trick and a goal from Cole Palmer.

The emphatic win saw Chelsea close the gap to top-four rivals Aston Villa and Manchester United to just three points with nine games remaining.

Crouch was impressed by Chelsea’s performance at Villa Park and reserved special praise for Pedro and Palmer, insisting they were both players he would ‘pay to watch’.

‘I would pay money to watch them, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer,’ Crouch said on TNT Sports before asking Rosenior about the potential of £60m Chelsea signing Pedro.

‘It’s scary, scary,’ Rosenior said of Pedro, who has now scored 14 goals and made five assists in the Premier League this season. ‘With the age they are it’s a joy to work with them every day.

‘His mentality as well, he’s a warrior. He’s a fantastic footballer but he’s strong and physical as well.

‘We know he’s an outstanding player and for me he’s got even more to go which is even better for us.’

Rosenior was also impressed by ‘outstanding’ Alejandro Garnacho, who justified his start with a bright display and an assist for Pedro’s third goal.

‘He was outstanding, outstanding’ Rosenior said of the former Manchester United winger.

‘I’ve had a lot of conversations with him and I told him just in there [in the dressing room] that I knew he would play well tonight because of the way he’s trained the last two weeks.

‘He’s been disappointed not to play and he should be, but he’s been really positive in training and put it into practice today.’

Pedro, meanwhile, was beaming after registering his first Chelsea hat-trick and praised his teammates’ response to Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.

‘I think it is a special night for me,’ Pedro said. ‘I was waiting for this time.

‘My hat-trick came at the right moment, after we lost against Arsenal, I think we showed a good reaction and how much we want to achieve.

‘I work a lot to be ready for this moment and I have great players around me so I try to always be in the right place and today I could score three goals.

‘Everyone wants to win every game. The last game against Arsenal we couldn’t win. Today we showed how much we were frustrated from the last game and got an important three points away.

‘In the whole season we try to be consistent but have dropped too many points at home but now we need to look forward and do our best every game.’

Chelsea face Wrexham in the FA Cup this weekend before a huge Champions League knockout game against holders PSG.

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