🇪🇸 Pedro Rodríguez

[Madmax 9,219]

Cesc is no where near what he used to perform at Arsenal, Villa also post Barcelona haven't even seen him in the news for anything( literally forgot that he was once a great). Sanchez, Ibra, Eto I agree performed well.

Just that last few years the players our club have gone after have all been crappy and the fact that united pulled back makes me skeptical.

You said Barcelona, not Arsenal. Anyway - 18 assists (or whatever it was) - that qualifies as being 'good'. Villa reached the CL final (and scored 15 in all comps that season, wiki says).

[chrismada9 1,948]

First mock-up I've seen today...

[pHaRaOn 2,131]

Can someone please paste the article in here? I've used up my views for the month!

Just open it in private mode/incognito mode in your browser.

[Jase 43,479]

Can someone please paste the article in here? I've used up my views for the month!

Chelsea's dramatic Pedro heist that has left rivals Manchester United red-faced was masterminded by manager Jose Mourinho, director Marina Granovskaia, Cesc Fabregas and the midfielder’s girlfriend Daniella Semaan.

Pedro is poised to complete a £22million move to Chelsea after flying to London on Wednesday to complete a medical, just two days after United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward had travelled to Barcelona to try to close a deal for the forward.

But while Woodward was haggling with Barcelona, Chelsea were putting ‘Operation Pedro’ into practice with Granovskaia conducting discreet negotiations with the Spanish club and, with the permission of Barca, Mourinho and Fabregas both speaking with the forward directly.

With Mourinho and Fabregas working on Pedro, Semaan made contact with the Spaniard’s wife, Carolina Martin, about moving to London.

Fabregas is good friends with Pedro from their time together at Barcelona and the Spanish national team, while Semaan also knows Martin well.

Between them, Mourinho, Granovskaia, Fabregas and Semaan managed to clinch a deal with Barca and convince Pedro to forget about United and agree to move to Stamford Bridge.

By the time Woodward and United denied there had been problems over the fee and claimed that the club had ended their interest in Pedro because of doubts from manager Louis van Gaal, the 28-year-old was already on a flight to London to undergo his Blues medical.

Spanish sources also claim that United’s bid ran into trouble because of Van Gaal’s fall-out with Pedro’s former Barca team-mate Victor Valdes, who has been frozen out at Old Trafford.

Hristo Stoichkov urged Pedro not to joined United and play for his former Barca manager Van Gaal, claiming the Dutchman was “mediocre” and somebody who “destroys clubs”.

Mourinho is likely to have got a far better recommendation, as, intriguingly, Stoichkov visited Chelsea’s Cobham training ground last week and spoke at length with the Portuguese and Fabregas.

The hijacking of Pedro has echoes of Chelsea’s late move to sign Willian from under the noses of Tottenham Hotspur two years ago in what was a significant blow to then manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Mourinho’s main motivation in signing Pedro is clearly to improve his team and squad, but he will take great delight in putting one over United off the pitch after Chelsea’s slow start to the season on it.

United insist they are already pursuing new targets, but the failure to capture Pedro after the departure of Angel di Maria piles the pressure on Woodward who has previously failed to close deals for Fabregas, Thiago Alcantra and Gareth Bale, and was this summer led up the garden path by Sergio Ramos, who signed a new contract at Real Madrid.

Manchester City had also made enquiries over Pedro in case a bid for Kevin de Bruyne falls through, but the Eastlands club remain hopeful of clinching a deal for the former Chelsea midfielder before the transfer window shuts.

Mourinho had hinted that he was frustrated by Chelsea’s lack of transfer activity, but owner Roman Abramovich has responded to the City defeat by committing to spend up to £44m on Pedro and left-back Baba Rahman, while also having a £30m bid for central defender John Stones rejected.

Chelsea could yet land Stones for almost £40m before the transfer window shuts, but, even if Everton stand firm, there can be no doubt that Mourinho has been backed.

While there was an obvious space in which to bring in Rahman to replace Filipe Luis, Chelsea have signed Pedro without finding a definite buyer for either Juan Cuadrado or Victor Moses.

Juventus are interested in Cuadrado, who will be allowed to leave either permanently or on loan, while Moses is on Tottenham’s list of targets but is not currently a priority for the White Hart Lane club.

Ironically, Mourinho could have signed Pedro in January but instead went for Cuadrado, who has not made any sort of impact at Chelsea since his £23.3m arrival from Fiorentina.

Creating serious competition on the right side of attack has been a problem for Mourinho, with Andre Schurrle, Mohamed Salah and Cuadrado all falling out of favour.

There is confidence that somebody with the experience of Pedro, who has won every honour in the domestic and international game, will cope far better with the competition for places at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro is likely to start on the right, with Willian and Oscar competing for the central position behind striker Diego Costa, and Eden Hazard staying on the left.

The Spain international’s pace should provide a new creative element to Chelsea’s game, while Pedro’s goalscoring record is also good for somebody who operates off the flank.

Pedro has twice scored more than 20 goals in all competitions for Barca, while he also netted 19 times in 2013/14.

Chelsea are waiting to see whether or not Stones agitates to leave Everton before making a fourth bid. The Toffees continue to insist the 21-year-old is not for sale.

The arrival of Pedro will certainly lift the mood around Chelsea, following a tough week in which Mourinho was forced to answer questions over his demotion of club doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn and the team were beaten by City.

Carneiro was this week due to return to Cobham, but Chelsea are refusing to comment on the matter and she has not been seen by the club’s first-team players.

[We Hate Scouse 10,326]

We stole him from United

He cost a fair few quid

We told Pedro to wear the blue

And that's just what he did

He only wanted Chelsea

The rest was just a front

And now like the rest of us

He knows Van Gaal's a cunt

[DYC. 7,542]

PL UCL

Interesting.

I don't think you're right though. The rest of England isn't that strong. There's no 06-09 Utd this time around. Europe is a different story. That will require luck for the time being.

But it's a shame Chelsea did not grab (or could not grab) the opportunity to take in a position of power in England.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

We better not miss out on him..really want him here.

Hope Agent Cesc comes to the rescue!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

[bethos1 802]

Is that a thousand minutes per goal I'm seeing there??

I know he was our 2nd best player during ending of last season but that's mind boggling.

A thousand minutes per goal is just pathetic wtf, those are stats for a defender...

[DavidEU 2,023]

Do you honestly believe Mourinho was hired to get a huge amount of money and stay as head coach untill 2019 with no big trophies?

I think he was given a new contract to compete at the highest level and challenge for the big trophies. There are no guarentees anymore.

I'd be surprised if during that time though, any side successfully defends the title.

I honestly think you should go and support Juventus, Bayern or Barcelona though if you expect a consistent amount of 'big' trophies.

[The Mak 4,459]

Just open it in private mode/incognito mode in your browser.

Ah, cheers for the tip!

And thanks @Jason!

[The Mak 4,459]

[The Mak 4,459]

[Christacinto 137]

Biggest signing since Hazard for me if this comes through, on a par with what Reus would have meant... Him on the right wing will be exactly the kind of ointment to cure the throbbing Achilles heel that our attack has become. Doubters will just ... eat their words in some weeks andquietly set off to hate other things Rejoyce brethren! Rejoyce! If Rahman turns out to be any good then we can bring Ivanovic to the center and let that debacle end. Then, to top it all, we just have to add Ibrahimovic to the squad to become the foie gras of football once again...

Oy yeah, Cuadrado and Mikel to buzz off then, please.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Biggest signing since Hazard for me if this comes through, on a par with what Reus would have meant... Him on the right wing will be exactly the kind of ointment to cure the throbbing Achilles heel that our attack has become. Doubters will just ... eat their words in some weeks andquietly set off to hate other things Rejoyce brethren! Rejoyce! If Rahman turns out to be any good then we can bring Ivanovic to the center and let that debacle end. Then, to top it all, we just have to add Ibrahimovic to the squad to become the foie gras of football once again...

Oy yeah, Cuadrado and Mikel to buzz off then, please.

Fabregas? Costa?

[The Skipper 20,609]

Well, I was previously against this but I've definitely come around now. If we ship off Cuadrado this is a massive improvement to our AMs. Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Pedro. That's solid. And it also gives you a nice platform to improve on I.e. If a bigger talent became available at RW.

I would also get rid of Moses and get Stones.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

A thousand minutes per goal is just pathetic wtf, those are stats for a defender...

Schurrle played on this wing and didn't score this low. Truth is Willian is hard-working but he just has no goalscoring instinct.

[Parks 24]

He didnt chose us over Utd. Utd didnt want to pay the price Barca demanded, we did.

Question. Was he forced to sign for us. The answer is two letters long and begins with "N". Therefore if he wasn't forced he had a choice.

You come acroos as an unhappy Utd supporter. "It's not fair, they paid more than us, sob,sob".

[Parks 24]

Question. Was he forced to sign for us. The answer is two letters long and begins with "N". Therefore if he wasn't forced he had a choice.

You come acroos as an unhappy Utd supporter. "It's not fair, they paid more than us, sob,sob".

[Billy. 2,742]

found this on twitter..

Oh Pedro Pedro he's better than Cuadrado, we nicked him from Louis Van Gaal, oh Pedro Pedro #illgetmecoat que sera

[Chelsea4 1,521]

Cant believe. The club became a joke in transfer market since Mourinho was appointed.

You can say Luiz was sold for 40m. Ok, because PSG is willing to do crazy things. Barcelona sold Fabregas and bought Rakitic for half the price.

Team full of attacking players, and now we are buying another Barcelona reject. His performance in both finals against Bilbao speaks loud about his abilities, or the lack of them.

Another player that is rumored is an unkown CB that is set to become the most expensive defender ever.

Unbelieveable. Long term success is doomed.

Are you drunk? Fabregas was also a Barcelona reject and what happend? He cant play because there is Neymar and still he has score more goals i one season than Willian and Cuadrado.