Michael Owen says he is a \u2018huge fan\u2019 of Joao Pedro and Manchester United should have looked to sign the \u2018unbelievable\u2019 forward before he joined Chelsea.<\/p>\n
Pedro left Brighton to complete a \u00a360million move to Chelsea 12 months ago and the 24-year-old went on to enjoy an impressive debut season in an otherwise wretched campaign for the club.<\/p>\n
The versatile attacker quickly established himself as the Blues\u2019 first-choice centre-forward ahead of fellow summer signing Liam Delap and finished with 20 goals to his name in all competitions.<\/p>\n
No doubt still hurting after missing out on Brazil\u2019s World Cup squad, he will be looking to get off on the right foot under new manager Xabi Alonso this coming season, starting against local rivals Fulham in a week\u2019s time.<\/p>\n
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After finishing down in tenth last term, Chelsea have no European football to contend with this time around \u2013 giving Alonso the luxury of being able to focus purely on domestic football over the coming weeks and months.<\/p>\n
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According to Owen, this could prove massively beneficial for Alonso\u2019s men, who he is backing to finish second in the top flight behind reigning champions Arsenal.<\/p>\n
Asked to name his favourites to challenge Arsenal, Owen told The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast: \u2018Chelsea. This could be way off the mark but they\u2019ve got no Europe at all and you see how important that has been over the years. It was brilliant for Manchester United last year.<\/p>\n
\u2018This manager [Xabi Alonso] did something similar with an unfancied team in Germany [Bayer Leverkusen], he\u2019s going to change a lot, they\u2019ve bought well.\u2019<\/p>\n
Owen has high hopes for Chelsea\u2019s all-star attack this season and believes Manchester United missed a trick not trying to sign Pedro before the Blues came in for the Brazilian last year.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m a huge Joao Pedro fan, I think he\u2019s unbelievable. In fact, Manchester United should have bought him about four years ago when he was at Watford,\u2019 the ex-England, United and Liverpool striker explained.<\/p>\n
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\u2018United had nobody up front for years and I thought, \u201cThat Joao Pedro\u201d, I love him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Him, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer as a front three\u2026 strange signings in Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson obviously.\u2019<\/p>\n