Manchester United have been cleared to make a bid for Pedro after Barcelona confirmed that he has asked for a transfer.
|||Manchester United have been cleared to make a bid for Pedro after Barcelona confirmed last night that he has asked for a transfer.
United are yet to make a formal offer but are ready to meet the £22million release clause in Pedro’s contract following confirmation from Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez that the 28-year-old may have played his last game for the club.
Pedro started on the bench for Barca’s Uefa Super Cup thriller against Sevilla in Tbilisi last night, even though manager Luis Enrique had insisted that the speculation would not influence his selection.
Fernandez told Spanish television: ‘Pedro has told me that he wants to leave. Right now there is nothing (no offers). Pedro’s clause is not negotiable, but this could be his last game.’
Manchester City have also been linked with the Spain forward, but Louis van Gaal is understood to want Pedro as a replacement for Angel di Maria.
Earlier, ex-Barca favourite Hristo Stoitchkov urged Pedro to stay at the Nou Camp instead of moving to play under Van Gaal.
Stoitchkov, who blames the Dutchman for driving him out of Barcelona in 1998, pointed to Van Gaal’s treatment of former Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes at United as an example of his poor management style.
The Bulgarian said: ‘I would never be under the orders of Louis van Gaal. He’s mediocre. The first time at Barca he destroyed them and he is destroying Manchester United. It turns out he needs £130m to spend and the other day I saw his first Premier League game. It was a disaster.
‘With what he has done to Valdes he has shown he is a bad person. Hopefully Pedro listens to me and doesn’t leave.’
Meanwhile, United goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel has called on the club to grant David de Gea’s wish to join Real Madrid and sign Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris as his replacement.
The Dane criticised the way the issue has dragged on, but believes United should not stand in De Gea’s way if his heart is set on a return to Spain.
‘I’d really like De Gea to stay,’ said Schmeichel. ‘Two years running he’s been player of the year, but if he wants to go, let him go and let United move on.
‘It’s sad that it has dragged into the season. If the player is not happy, his agent, himself and the club that want him should have sorted this a long time ago.’
Schmeichel believes Van Gaal should sign France keeper Lloris from Spurs instead of pursuing a £25m deal with Ajax for Holland No 1 Jasper Cillessen.
He added: ‘If De Gea goes I would love Lloris to come to United. He has exactly the style of play and he is proven in the Premier League.
‘Cillessen is a good goalkeeper, but Van Gaal took him off for the penalty shoot-out (against Costa Rica) at the World Cup and I think he doesn’t trust him 100 per cent. I wouldn’t like a goalkeeper like that at Manchester United.’ Schmeichel’s former team-mate Bryan Robson believes De Gea could still stay at Old Trafford for another year, just as Cristiano Ronaldo was made to wait for his move to Real Madrid.
Robson said: ‘He’s a professional and he will have to get on with the job whichever way it goes.
‘Ronaldo had to get his head around it. The club weren’t prepared to release him for a year but Ronaldo went about it in a professional way, had a great season, then got his dream move.’ – Daily Mail
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