Pedro Neto: Childhood skills become secret weapon & earn him bizarre nickname

BEFORE he was a Wolf, Pedro Neto was an ’Atomic Mouse’.

The Portugal winger returns to Molineux with Chelsea on Sunday aiming to torment former club Wolves with the pace and trickery that have been his trademark since he was a kid.

When Telmo Sousa worked with the young Neto, he and his fellow coaches coined a nickname for the little maestro.

Sousa revealed: “At the time he had not yet matured. Compared to his team-mates, he was one of the smallest.

“But his technique, combined with speed, meant that he was given that nickname, ‘Atomic Mouse’.

“From a very early age, Pedro had characteristics that made him stand out.

“He was just a boy with a strong personality and also an extraordinary competitive thirst.

“There was no doubt about his individual abilities. But in determining whether an athlete becomes a professional, the family structure is decisive. And Pedro has parents who gave him that support.”

To say Neto comes from a sporting family is something of an understatement.

His older sisters, Bruna and Debora, were national trampolining champions.

Mum Cristina played volleyball and her brother, Neto’s uncle Sergio Lomba, also had a decent professional football career in Portugal and won one cap for Mozambique.

But for a while it seemed that the youngster was destined to follow in the path of his dad, Pedro Sr, and become a star of… roller hockey.

Neto, who grew up in the beautiful coastal city of Viana do Castelo in the north west of Portugal, told the Chelsea programme: “In our home town, we had a club that was really well known and we used to fight for championships in the first division.

“I started playing when I was like, three years old, getting on the roller skates because you have to learn how to balance really early in life if you want to play.

“I went to trials for the national team at 13. The other guys were all 16 years old, so I was doing really well.”

But Neto was also starring on the football pitch, transferring skills from the skating rink.

The 24-year-old added: “If you look at me when I’m playing, I always lean forward when I’m going really fast.

“It’s the low centre of gravity. I take that from hockey because even to protect the ball you are getting the stick down.

“So loads of the technique — the way that I had to rotate as well — has helped me a lot in football.”

Neto played under Sousa at Perspectiva em Jogo, a junior club affiliated to the city’s football association and linked to a sporting academy.

And Sousa said: “Hockey helped him immensely.

“We are talking about a high-speed sport in which the athlete’s coordination and fitness attributes are tested to the maximum.

“You have the constant changes of direction and the restricted space that requires faster and more intelligent decision-making.

“I just remember many great moments.

“The most notable ones were when he scored a bicycle and on another occasion, when he carried the ball from defensive midfield, went past all the opponents and chipped the goalkeeper.

“Pedro played up — he was born in 2000 and played against youngsters from 1998 and 1999.

“The team also managed to reach the semi-finals of the local cup and they were mostly younger than all their opponents.”

Braga, the biggest club in Portugal outside of the usual suspects of Benfica, Sporting and Porto, came calling.

At 14, Neto had to choose between the two sports at which he excelled.

His decision to opt for football paid off. Barcelona tried to sign Neto but he stayed at Braga and was given his first-team debut at the age of 17 by Abel Ferreira, now the successful manager of Brazilian side Palmeiras.

After a disappointing spell on loan at Lazio, Neto joined Wolves in 2019.

He shone while at Molineux and was linked with Arsenal and a number of other big clubs before Chelsea splashed out an initial £51m on him this month.

Neto will have to fight the latest Blues signing, and fellow Portugal international Joao Felix, as well as a number of other forwards, for a place in Enzo Maresca’s side.

But Sousa, now chief exec of the EuroGestFootball agency that focuses on young players’ academic as well as football development, said: “The move to Chelsea is just a change of club.

“The competitive framework of the Premier League is still the same for him.

“I am sure that even with the strong competition, Pedro will be very successful.

“I believe that he will very soon be at the top — one of the best in the world.”