Chelsea foil Manchester United to sign Pedro from Barcelona
Blues agree on a fee of £21 million for Spain winger, according to UK media reports
English Premier League soccer champions Chelsea have pipped Manchester United to the signing of Spain winger Pedro Rodriguez from Barcelona, according to British media reports.
The BBC reported that Chelsea had agreed on a fee of £21 million (HK$255 million) with the reigning European champions and that the 28-year-old would soon be in London to finalise the terms of the transfer.
If completed, the deal will bring an end to a summer-long transfer saga surrounding Pedro, who had been linked to Manchester City as well as United, although it was the Old Trafford club who appeared most likely to sign him.
Pedro scored the winning goal for Barcelona in last week’s dramatic 5-4 extra-time defeat of Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup in Tbilisi.
However, he has fallen down the pecking order at the Nou Camp under Luis Enrique, who has preferred the all-star front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez and has used the Canary-Islands born player more sparingly.