Chelsea have joined Arsenal and Liverpool in the transfer chase for Barcelona’s Pedro, reports from Spain suggest.
READ MORE:
Read the latest Chelsea transfer gossip!
Mourinho wants MORE signings, £24.5m midfielder talks, Blues & Arsenal eye Chilean
Chelsea forward TARGETED by Serie A giants
According to SPORT, the Spain international has rejected offers from Arsene Wenger and Brendan Rodgers, as well as Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, but the Blues are considering luring the winger to Stamford Bridge with a new offer for his signature.
The Spanish newspaper claim that the 27-year-old – who has 11 years of service to the La Liga BBVA giants – wishes to see out his current contract, which he extended to 2019 just last month [via The Guardian], but is assessing interest from across Europe.
Chelsea, the report states, are the latest club to have joined the transfer battle for the out-of-favour forward, as Jose Mourinho believes that the signing of Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan – who put pen-to-paper on a five-year contract with Barca on Monday [via ESPN] – may have a detrimental effect on Pedro’s position in Luis Enrique’s side.
The Turkey international isn’t able to play for the Champions League winners until January given the club’s transfer ban [via the Daily Mail], but Mourinho may feel that his arrival could have pushed the winger even further down the pecking order.
The Portuguese manager, therefore, believes Pedro could be tempted into leaving the Camp Nou and is willing to offer €20m (£14.3m), SPORT reports.
Despite being a playmaker by trade, Turan was handed six different positions by Atleti boss Diego Simeone last season – right and left midfield, central midfield, the No.10 role, as well as right and left in attack. What’s more, given that Barcelona parted with a reported £24.1m for his signature [via The Guardian] – combined with Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi likely to remain as the first-choice trio in attack – it’s difficult to envisage where Pedro could fit into his manager’s future plans.
COMMENTS