Spanish Attacker Opens Up On Why He Joined Chelsea Over Man Utd

With the summer transfer window now closed for business, it’s time to start looking at those deals that failed to get over the line. Today, Chelsea opens up on his doomed move to Man Utd….

Pedro Rodriguez has opened over why his proposed move to Manchester United fell through before he eventually signed for Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, according to Marca.

Pedro had spent his entire professional career at the Nou Camp but was forced to leave the club in search of regular first team football after falling behind the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in the pecking order.

Manchester United looked set to wrap-up a deal for the 28-year-old with the Express reporting in early August that chief executive Ed Woodward had flown out to Spain to try and thrash out a deal with Barcelona.

However, the negotiations dragged on for weeks and the delay opened the door for Chelsea to come in and hijack United’s move with the Premier League champions securing a £21.1m deal last month [via the Guardian].

Pedro has now spoken out for the first time about his doomed move to Old Trafford and admitted it was United’s inability to close-out the deal that led to him joining Chelsea as he believes the Blues were ‘the most determined’ to sign him.

The Spanish international said he is happy with his decision to join Chelsea and also took the time to praise Jose Mourinho for how quickly he’s welcomed him into his Stamford Bridge ‘family’.

In an interview with Marca, Pedro said:

“I saw that things weren’t progressing with Man United. It was taking time and I needed to get started with a team. Chelsea were the most determined.”

“I think I made a good decision with Chelsea. The welcome I’ve had from everyone has been great from the start. That has made it easy for me to adapt quickly and well.

“Although it might sound strange to some people, Mourinho is very different in person. He treats you like one of his family. He really cares about you, values you and how much he asks of his players.”

Pedro has certainly settled in quickly in West London as he netted a goal on his debut during a 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion and has impressed so far during his short time in England.

I think the former Barca ace is going to prove to be one of the signings of the summer and at just over £21m, he’s an absolute bargain in today’s over-inflated market for a player of his quality.

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

I’m sure there will be many Man Utd fans who are hugely disappointed they missed out after coming so close to signing the Spaniard as Pedro at £21m seems like a much better deal than the reported £36m+ the Red Devils ended up paying for unproven youngster Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman has bags of ability but it’s a big gamble from United to pay such a fee for a player who’s only played just over 50 games in Ligue 1. When you compare that to Pedro’s record, who scored 99 goals in 321 games for Barcelona en route to winning a whole host of top trophies, I know who I think has got the better deal this summer….