Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi has revealed that he had a hand in pushing to sign Joao Pedro.
The attacker came on for striker Danny Welbeck early in the second half for the friendly against Chelsea and was an immediate threat.
Joao Pedro, who was announced for a club record £30 million fee from Watford in May, showed promising signs of what he could offer for the Seagulls this season with his direct running during a short appearance.
The Brazilian won a penalty which he converted after being fouled by recent Albion loanee and now transfer target Levi Colwill.
And ten minutes later, he set up Denis Undav when he sold two defenders with a cut back which was converted to give Albion a glimmer of hope.
De Zerbi was very keen to sign the 21-year-old who plays as a forward or on the left.
He said: “The first game was incredible, but I knew him very well and pushed with the club to bring him in. I believe in a lot of his quality, his quality is right for our style of play.
“But in attack, we have other big players. Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson, and older players like Lallana and Welbeck.
“We will play 60 games I think and I hope and everyone will have the possibility to play and show their quality.”
Joao Pedro scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 35 Championship games last season.
He also recorded ten man of the match awards and the highest average rating (7.42) of any Championship player on WhoScored.com
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