Manchester United has officially sent in a transfer bid for Barcelona’s Pedro Rodriguez. The deal is reportedly worth £22 million, the exact value of the release clause in his contract at the Nou Camp.
Manchester United has been keen on signing a wide forward to complete the trio of Wayne Rooney and Memphis Depay. Earlier , boss Louis Van Gaal expressed the importance of signing such a player in order to compete with the around Europe.
“Barcelona have the speed of Neymar and Lionel Messi and they have Pedro behind them. We have to compete with that. We can win the title if we can buy players with speed and creativity. We have to improve our selection in that way. Bayern Munich have Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. After that they can change with Thomas Muller and they also had Xherdan Shaqiri at times. They are our competitors. Chelsea have Eden Hazard, Willian, Oscar – that is speed and creativity.”
Barcelona’s manager, Luis Enrique, has made it clear that he wishes to keep Pedro despite Manchester United’s official bid for the Spanish forward. He said, “Pedro is a high-level player and as a coach I want him to stay here, but is his decision.”
“There will only be exits if someone wants to leave and at the moment we don’t have news about this.”
However, it’s rumored that Pedro is currently looking forward to a move to Manchester United due to lack of playing after the arrival of Luis Suarez. Manchester United’s official bid for Pedro Rodriguez effectively ends their pursuit for Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale.
Pedro is set to replace Argentine winger Angel Di Maria after he passed his medical in Doha to complete his move from Manchester United to Paris Saint Germain.
The Argentine was happy to move to the French capital and has set his sight on winning the Champions League once again like he did in his last season at Real Madrid.
“I am very happy to join PSG. What I know about PSG is that it is a team that won all the possible trophies in France last season. This is very important for the club. I also know that I want to overcome the obstacle that is the quarter finals of the Champions League.”
Will Pedro Rodriguez become a Manchester United? Can he lead Manchester United to a Barclays Premier League title?
[Image via Clive Mason/Getty Images]