adminLONDON. – Chelsea are now the frontrunners for Barcelona’s Pedro, according to reports. Italian publication Tottu Mercato claim the Blues have agreed to offer the Spain international a four-year deal and have moved ahead of their rivals in the battle for his signature.
No other suitor is yet to put a deal on the table for the 27-year-old, who is free to leave the Nou Camp this summer if his buy-out clause of £22million is met.
Liverpool were thought to be leading the race for his services as they look for a replacement for Raheem Sterling.
They were believed to have moved ahead of Manchester United, who were also strongly linked with an offer.
But reports suggest Blues boss Jose Mourinho is keen to replace wantaway winger Juan Cuadrado, with Mourinho willing to cut his losses on the Colombian.
Chelsea shelled out £26.1m in January to sign him from Fiorentina but could see Pedro as an upgrade given his experience in the Champions League
The Spaniard started just 15 La Liga games last season and has found himself behind Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in the pecking order at Barca.
However, he has won everything the game has to offer, including five domestic titles and the Champions League on three occasions.
He is also a World Cup and European Championship winner with Spain.
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists the Premier League champions have no plans to make significant additions to his squad, revealing that he is relishing the prospect of mounting a title defence with the same set of players.
Apart from the arrival of striker Radamel Falcao and the departure of goalkeeper Petr Cech, Chelsea have been largely inactive in the summer transfer window while rivals such as Manchester United have spent heavily.
And although Chelsea continue to be linked to a move for Everton’s English defender John Stones, Mourinho is adamant there is no chance of the club making a major splurge in the transfer market.
“In this moment we don’t want players,” Mourinho said.
“Of course we must be ready because the market is open and if someone comes for one of our players with a bid, we must be ready to act.”
Mourinho confirmed the club was likely to offload defender Filipe Luis and would seek a replacement.
“We need a left back because I think we will sell Filipe Luis, so we need to go to the market. But other positions we have no space.”
While the likes of Manchester United have bolstered their squad with an array of high-calibre signings including German World Cup-winner Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, Mourinho insists he is happy with what he has.
Asked if he was targeting the Champions League this season, he replied: “It’s not my main objective. I have only one objective – to win tomorrow.
“I have no other objectives other than to improve, improve and improve.
“It’s a nice challenge to improve with no new players. I think the players we have are happy because the club trusts them.
“We are saying ‘You are the champions, we trust you, we believe in you.’”
Mourinho revealed Chelsea’s coaching staff were focusing instead on trying to make the team more “unpredictable”.
“We have exactly the same players, the squad and the team is basically the same,” Mourinho said.
“We are just going to try and add some things we are competing against teams who are going to be better because of the money they’ve spent.
“A team that buys one, two, three or four players and spends 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 million is going to improve.” -The Daily Express.
Online Reporter