Manchester United Transfer News: Hristo Stoichkov Warns Pedro Off Louis van Gaal

Barcelona winger Pedro has been warned off joining Louis van Gaal's Manchester United by former Camp Nou forward Hristo Stoichkov.

Pedro is reportedly on the verge of a £22 million move to Old Trafford having fallen down the pecking order at Barca behind Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, per James Cambridge in the Express.

However, Stoichkov has urged the Spaniard to reject the switch. He has warned against moving to play under Van Gaal, the coach under whom Stoichkov barely featured for Barca before being sold in 1998, per Spanish radio station Onda Cero (h/t the Daily Star's Alex Harris):

"I would never be under the orders of Van Gaal. He's mediocre," he said. "He destroyed Barca and is destroying Man Utd. With what he has done to goalkeeper [Victor] Valdes he has shown he is a bad person. Hopefully Pedro listens to me and doesn't leave."

There is clearly bad blood between Stoichkov and Van Gaal. The legendary Bulgarian forward blames the United boss for ending a Barca career in which he won five La Liga titles and a European Cup. Back in March, Stoichkov labelled the Dutchman as "scum," per French newspaper L'Equipe (h/t Tom Sheen of the Independent).

Pedro may be well advised to take Stoichkov's advice with a large pinch of salt. A switch to United actually looks to be a sensible move for the 28-year-old.

He has been starved of game time at the Camp Nou recently, but under Van Gaal would likely start in a front three alongside Memphis Depay and Wayne Rooney, per Bleacher Report's Andy Brassell:

Pedro's departure from Barca would bring to an end a long-term association with the Catalan club stretching back to 2004.

In all likelihood, Tuesday's UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla will be Pedro's last match in the famous shirt, per Albert Roge of Spanish outlet Sport.

Stoichkov may be against the move, but as far as all other parties are concerned it looks a decent deal. Barca are set to be well compensated, while Pedro will have a big role to play as United aim to return to the upper echelons of world football.