Alan Shearer disagrees with Liam Rosenior’s comments about ‘world-class’ Chelsea star | Football

Alan Shearer has contested Liam Rosenior’s glowing praise of Joao Pedro, insisting the Chelsea striker still has some way to go before he can be compared to the likes of Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

Pedro has shone across an immensely promising debut season at Stamford Bridge, racking up 18 goals and nine assists in all competitions for the Blues.

There had been some debate as to which striker would go on and become the focal point of Chelsea’s attack, with Liam Delap also arriving in west London for big money last summer.

But Pedro appears to have put those questions to bed with his excellent run of form since since the turn of the year, netting 11 times in his last 12 matches for the Club World Cup holders.

The encouraging early signs point to a strong player-manager relationship between Pedro and Liam Rosenior and the latter waxed lyrical about the 24-year-old Brazil international when facing the media last week.

Speaking ahead of his side’s FA Cup fifth-round win over Wrexham, the Chelsea head coach even went as far as placing Pedro in the same ‘category’ as world-class forwards Kylian Mbappe, Kane and Haaland.

‘Joao is in that category now. In the two months I’ve been here, he has consistently shown he is a world‑class striker,’ Rosenior told reporters.

‘I talk about my players; it’s disrespectful to Erling to compare them. I don’t know Erling very well, but from the outside he looks a magnificent, world‑class striker.

‘I wouldn’t swap Joao for anyone at this moment – he is showing all the qualities and attributes I want to see.

‘The great thing for Joao is his age – he can still improve, and I’ve already noticed several areas where he can get better.

‘But the level he’s operating at now is world class, and it’s my job, the club’s job and his job to keep him there.’

Pedro backed up Rosenior’s praise by coming on and scoring deep into extra-time to help Chelsea beat ten-man Wrexham to a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

‘He’s a very good player, he’s hit great ability. When he came on, he was a level above everyone,’ ex-England and Newcastle striker said of Pedro’s eye-catching cameo performance on The Rest Is Football podcast.

‘He stood out a mile just with his ability, balance, touch and technique, all of those things.’

But on Rosenior’s pre-match remarks likening Pedro to the world’s very best strikers, Shearer added: ‘I wouldn’t have him that bracket, no.’

While Wrexham ultimately failed in their pursuit of a big cup upset, Shearer made sure to applaud Phil Parkinson’s players for the spirit and resilience they showed throughout the fifth-round tie.

‘I thought they were brilliant. The energy they brought, they just fed off the crowd,’ Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer – continued.

‘Everything they did, they weren’t afraid of anything. They just went at Chelsea, defended well, were creative in midfield, scored a couple of brilliant goals.

‘It could have been more and they pushed Chelsea all the way. Chelsea didn’t play well at all, changed the team around, left a few out, change of system and they were slightly fortunate to get through, I thought.

‘But cup football, you’ve just got to get through to the next round and Chelsea did that.

‘But it was just a great occasion.’

Micah Richards, meanwhile, singled out Sam Smith for special praise, claiming the Wrexham forward outshone opposite number Liam Delap for large parts of the tie.

‘How good was Sam Smith up front?! His hold-up play was amazing, he didn’t stop running, he took his finish well,’ the former England and Manchester City defender said.

‘I was looking at Liam Delap and I was thinking you couldn’t tell at the time who was the Premier League striker and then Delap did something special for the first goal.

‘He held it up, put it wide and it was really good.

‘It was interesting to see because obviously Sam Smith plays in the Championship where he’s probably used to that constant battling and he just looked like that was something he had worked on and was used to.

‘Whereas Delap, he was not used to someone coming really tight to him and he didn’t quite know how to figure it out, and then he got to grips with the game and did really well after that.

‘But before that, Delap found it very difficult.’

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