Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has helped to transform Pedro back into “the player we saw in Spain”, says former Blues striker Tony Cascarino.
The 29-year-old forward enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at Barcelona before moving to Stamford Bridge in 2015.
Over the course of nine seasons as part of the senior set-up at Camp Nou, Pedro toasted five La Liga titles and three Champions League crowns amongst several other honours.
He did, however, start to slip out of favour as part of a star-studded squad and Chelsea were considered to have pulled off quite the coup in winning the race for his signature.
Pedro initially struggled to reproduce his best in England, though, scoring just eight goals in 40 appearances in all competitions.
But he has recaptured his form in 2016-17 and been a key figure for Chelsea during their current 12-match winning run in the Premier League.
Cascarino is among those to have noted his progress and considers Pedro to be back at a level which places him alongside former Barca team-mate Alexis Sanchez – who has been earning plenty of plaudits at Arsenal.
“When Pedro and Alexis Sanchez came to the Premier League from Barcelona, I thought of them as players who were equally good,” Cascarino told The Times.
“Last season Pedro’s form for Chelsea made that idea look ridiculous, but Antonio Conte seems to have a special skill for helping players to find the best in themselves.
“Pedro looks like the player we saw in Spain now, and you have to give Conte the credit for that. The Italian is one of those rare managers who do things that go against what pundits and fans are telling them to do and are proved right, as has been the case with him often putting Pedro in the team ahead of Willian, who was seen as the club’s best player last season.
“Don’t let any pundit tell you they saw Chelsea being this far ahead by this point of the season; no one saw it coming.”
Pedro has netted four times in 19 appearances for table-topping Chelsea this season, with the most recent of those goals coming in a 3-0 victory over Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
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