The former Chelsea star who played huge role in £55m Joao Pedro transfer

Joao Pedro has revealed former Chelsea defender David Luiz played a significant role in the 23-year-old's move to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues made a breakthrough over the weekend after reaching an agreement on a £55million deal with Brighton for the Brazilian forward. Joao Pedro trained with his new Chelsea teammates for the first time on Wednesday morning in Miami as he prepares to be in the squad for Friday evening's FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Palmeiras.

The Brazilians stand in the way of a place in the semi-final for Chelsea and a trip to New York. Speaking of the South American country, Joao Pedro will become the latest in a long line of players from Brazil to represent the club. At the moment, there are Deivid Washington and Andrey Santos, with Estevao Willian arriving after the Club World Cup, but there have been many to play at Stamford Bridge in the past.

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Thiago Silva, Alexandre Pato, Filipe Luis, Willian, Oscar and Ramires are quite possibly the most infamous. David Luiz, too, represented the Blues on two separate occasions - and as it turns out, played a big role in Joao Pedro moving to west London.

"I'm close a little bit to David Luiz," Joao Pedro said. "I spoke to him, not about Chelsea, but about my career and how I could develop better. He helped me."

The forward has been in England since 2020 after signing for Watford from Fluminense and while impressing at Vicarage Road, and then Brighton, he is yet to get his hands on a major honour since arriving in Britain. Joao Pedro, however, hopes that will change sooner rather than later.

Speaking in his first interview as a Chelsea player, the Brazil international said: "I grew up watching the Premier League, and Chelsea were a club that won trophies. So, when you join Chelsea, you can only think one thing: to win trophies. Every competition, you have to think, 'I play for Chelsea and that is my ambition'."

The Brazilian is set to be included in the matchday squad on Friday evening as Chelsea go head-to-head with Palmeiras in Philadelphia.