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Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has been granted compassionate leave following the tragic death of his close friend and Portugal teammate Diogo Jota.

As the Blues prepare for their Club World Cup quarter-final against Palmeiras in Philadelphia, head coach Enzo Maresca emphasised that Neto’s participation in the match is entirely at the player’s discretion.

“This is an incredibly sorrowful day,” Maresca said as quoted by the Guardian.

One feels somewhat powerless in moments like this.”

“I can only extend my heartfelt condolences to [Jota’s] family.

Regarding Pedro, he is deeply affected – perhaps more than just sad.

We stand by Pedro to support him”.

Neto was absent from Chelsea’s training session on Thursday, having been permitted to skip the session to mourn the loss of the Liverpool forward.

Maresca added: “Since I didn’t see him in training earlier, the decision to play rests entirely with Pedro.

I spoke with him this morning, and we are here to support him?

Whatever choice he makes is the right one”.

The pair first formed their friendship during their time at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where they played together from 2018 to 2020.

Both Portuguese youngsters arrived at Molineux with high expectations and quickly became key to Wolves before being snapped up by Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

Blues left-back Marc Cucurella spoke of the collective support within the Chelsea dressing room:

“The manager and he must decide but it’s important that Pedro feels good,” Cucurella said.

“In the [Thursday] morning he was sad and it was not his best moment.

“But we tried to stay together and in the afternoon he was a bit better and I told him that if he’s going to play then he will score because that is destiny,” the Spaniard added.

“Hopefully we can show his love and all the good friends that we are and dedicate the goal to him.”

Meanwhile, it’s been reported by the BBC that the FA will be in contact with Liverpool over a tribute for the Community Shield final next month.

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