Breaking Down What the Signing of Pedro Will Mean to Chelsea's Attack

Pedro Rodriguez's Premier League debut told us the one thing every Chelsea fan was praying for—that he isn't Juan Cuadrado.

To a lesser degree, he isn't Willian, either.

In signing the former Barcelona winger, Jose Mourinho has gifted himself the out-and-out attacking threat that has been lacking on Chelsea's right in recent seasons.

Indeed, since Mourinho's return to the club, he has tried and failed with many combinations in that area.

There has been Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Schurrle, Mohamed Salah, Cuadrado and Willian, but it's Pedro who has the look of a man who can finally provide the solution the Chelsea boss has been looking for.

Mourinho wants to see the same level of consistency on the right that Eden Hazard has provided on the left for Chelsea.

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Schurrle and Willian made a good fist of doing that, but neither was productive or consistent enough in the manager's eyes to warrant making the right his own.

From his two games in Chelsea colours, Pedro is.

Yes, even in the Crystal Palace debacle on Saturday, Pedro was one of the few Chelsea players to come away from the game with any form of praise.

He repeated his performance from a week earlier against West Bromwich Albion, causing problems on the flanks before grabbing the assist for Radamel Falcao's equaliser.

Had Pedro scored himself, we'd be talking about a carbon-copy performance. Maybe another match-winning display.

When we consider some of the famed Chelsea wide men from yesteryear, Pedro doesn't fit the same mould as a Pat Nevin, yet he is similar.

We hear the traditional winger is a dying breed, but Pedro seems to combine the best of a No. 10 and wide man all in one.

Take his two assists for Chelsea already this season—the other for Diego Costa against West Brom—and we can see it.

On both occasions, Costa and Falcao were the beneficiaries of Pedro's willingness to expose defenders and put the ball in the box.

Sure, Costa's goal came more from Pedro's misplaced shot, yet it lent itself to what we saw against Palace when Falcao attacked the near post to head home Pedro's cross.

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The Spaniard is willing to attack the wing in a way unlike any other Chelsea player. And when he gets into position, he doesn't dally in possession—Pedro is quick-thinking and only has one thought on his mind, which is to get the ball into the danger area.

It's what Cuadrado was supposed to do: He was supposed to supply that sort of width and service for Chelsea but never did.

Now Pedro is, providing his own goal threat in the process. He scored Chelsea's opener against West Brom and came close on a few occasions against Palace.

Outside of a being a better, more productive option on the wing, there's a very real option now for Mourinho to change how he sets this Chelsea team up.

Playing Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic together in the midfield pivot isn't working right now. Chelsea look weak in the middle and are being outmuscled in what is a key area of the pitch.

That much was evident in that 3-0 loss against Manchester City, and the same could be said for the Palace performance at times. And if it's happening this early into the season, the problem is going to keep rearing its head.

Adding an extra man in there would mean losing an attacker, but given the creativity of Hazard and Pedro on the flanks, the concern isn't the same as if it were Willian or Cuadrado occupying the right side.

A 4-3-3 would allow Oscar or Willian to sit deep and shore up the midfield with their defensive capabilities. Outside of that, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another capable option, especially given how he impressed against Palace.

He'd be a more natural fit, having played centrally in Chelsea's youth teams, and he is a big, physical presence despite his relative youth.

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What we've seen over the course of August is that the Premier League champions are missing something significant. The new campaign has barely started but they're already eight points behind leaders City, which is a big concern for their title ambitions as we consider the long-term implications.

In the present, there's much more besides, but Pedro gives Mourinho a real option to adapt his formula and find the solution to remedying Chelsea's problems.

That means adding an extra dimension to their attack, which he already has, and also allowing Mourinho to consider defensive options to make Chelsea a lot more solid than they have been.

Had Pedro been signed earlier in the summer, we may well be watching a different Chelsea right now.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes