It was confirmed this afternoon, shortly after Alonso finished speaking to the media at Cobham, that Neto has committed his future to the club until 2032.

The Portugal international has already shown this season how important he is to Alonso, having been deployed as a wing-back and in a more advanced role in our opening fixtures of the campaign.

And our manager detailed exactly what makes Neto such an invaluable squad member, and why it is hard to pigeonhole him into a single position.

‘For me he is a winger, but you can call him a winger or a wing-back because he has many qualities,’ said Alonso.

‘He can play on the last line and he can defend in the first line; he has the capacity to do many things. He is good at one-v-ones, is scoring goals, has a fantastic work rate and connects very well with the players around him.

‘I knew him well from watching many games of Chelsea, but with him you know that he is going to compete and you want these kind of players in the team. I’m very happy with Pedro and the work he is doing.’