Although Spanish newspapers reported that Barcelona FC are desperate to cling onto Pedro, Manchester United seem poised to trigger his £22million release clause with the Catalan giants. Luis Enrique has said that he intends hanging onto Pedro until the UEFA Super Cup final at Tbilisi on August 11th when Barcelona play Sevilla. Enrique feels that with Messi and Neymar joining just 10 days before the match and Luis Suarez the only fully fit member presently available in the Blaugrana strike force, he wants to take no chances and just go ahead and include Pedro in the main playing eleven.
Initially there were rumours that Barcelona were willing to sell Pedro on condition that Manchester United pay the entire €150 million amount of the buyout clause. But that being in the realms of impossibility, both sides have reportedly agreed to a €30 million fee which would probably be the Spaniard’s signing amount at Old Trafford.
With the advent of Luis Suarez into team last year, there has been a nagging unease that Pedro could find his usefulness in the forward ranks diminish gradually. Indeed, he seems to have fallen in the pecking order since the emergence of the super-influential Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio. Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu believes Pedro is part of Barcelona FC’s history. Gerard Pique is another who has been able to understand the winger’s apprehensions at the club, but sorely wants him to stay on.
After starting his career as a Barcelona “B Division” player in 2007, Pedro Rodríguez quickly found a place in the club’s main eleven in 2007-08 season. Though he featured in just 14 appearances for the club that season, he proved his mettle as a forward and winger and since the 2009-10 season has been an integral part of the playing eleven. The fact that he has never played in less than 45 matches in each of the last six seasons is a testimony to his indispensability and superb fitness. He has been a vital part of Barcelona’s monumental run of the past six years. His 318 games for the club has fetched him 98 goals.
At just 28, this slippery and dangerous forward has much more in store. The top clubs of Europe probably feel that his best is yet to come. Manchester United is one of them. Liverpool are the other outfit gunning for Pedro, but by the looks of it, the mercurial Spaniard could just become Lou Van Gaal’s sixth signing for this summer.
