Xabi Alonso: £60m Chelsea star 'reminds me of Karim Benzema, he's very complete'

While Joao Pedro is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the Premier League, Alonso has gone one step further by comparing him to Benzema - one of the greatest forwards of all time.

“He's been top, not just football-wise but personality-wise, his maturity,” the Chelsea manager said.

“He has a very strong goal this year: to have a great season, to score many goals, to be a [Player of the Month] nominee not just this month, but for more months.

“I'm really not surprised, but am really happy with the kind of player that we have with Joao.

“As a profile of striker, he seems to be able to do everything. He reminds me of (Karim) Benzema because he's good in the box, he's good out of the box, he's good coming to the left side, good with the head.

“He's very complete. He's intelligent.

“So yes, he’s still young, and he still has things to develop, but he has many absolutely outstanding qualities.”