Man Utd In Talks To Sign Chelsea Target After Player Tells Club He Wants OT Move

With the summer transfer window in full swing, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Man Utd are closing in on Pedro…

Manchester United are in formal talks with Barcelona over a deal for Chelsea target Pedro Rodriguez after the player informed the Catalans he wants to move to Old Trafford, according to Marca.

Pedro has been on Barca’s books his entire professional career and appeared to commit his long-term future to the club after signing a new four-year contract extension last month.

But the 27-year-old was quoted as saying by the Express that the new deal saw his buy-out clause reduce from £106m to a far more affordable £22m and he admitted that he’s facing an uncertain future at the Nou Camp due to a lack of playing time.

Chelsea were soon touted as the early front-runners with the Express reporting earlier this month that Jose Mourinho had identified the Spanish international as a key target and was confident of wrapping-up a deal.

However, Manchester United then emerged as favourites to land Pedro with El Confidential reporting earlier this week that the Red Devils were in pole position and were ready to make their interest official over the coming days.

It appears United have made their move as Spanish newspaper Marca claim that United are now in formal talks with Barcelona and despite Luis Enrique’s best efforts to persuade him to stay, they suggest that Pedro has already told the club he wants to make the move to Old Trafford.

United are due to meet Barcelona in a pre-season friendly tomorrow and with officials from the two clubs set to be in the same venue, the paper says that talks are expected to accelerate on Saturday.

So it looks like Pedro’s future could be resolved over the coming days and a move to United appears to be on the cards. The Spanish international is seemingly keen on the move and you can’t blame him for wanting out of Barca as he’s been restricted to cameo appearances with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez all well ahead of him in the pecking order.

Understandably the European champions don’t want to lose him as he’s a useful squad player, but with his buy-out clause set at a very reasonable £22m, there is little they can do if United decide to submit an offer for that amount.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news  | Man Utd transfer news

There is still time for the likes of Chelsea to try and hijack the proposed deal, but if Pedro does seal a move to Old Trafford then I expect that may lead to Angel Di Maria’s exit with the Argentinean international strongly linked with a move to PSG [via the Independent].

We’ll have to wait and see how talks progress over the next couple of days but I think Pedro would be an excellent signing for United as he’s capable of playing anywhere across the front three, so will give van Gaal plenty of options, and he has vast experience at the highest level.