Barcelona Transfer News: Retaining Pedro Must Be a Priority Until Summer

Luis Enrique's arrival at Barcelona has been treated positively by many within the Blaugrana squad, but Pedro wouldn't appear to be among that number after reports arose stating the winger is unhappy at the club.

According to Fichajes.net (h/t Metro), Arsenal are interested in luring the Spaniard to north London this winter, having learned their target is frustrated with the competition in Catalan country:

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Arsene Wenger has remained a fan of the player though, and now Arsenal could have an easy run to sign him in the new year with reports in Spain saying he wants to leave.

It’s thought that Pedro has become frustrated being stuck behind Neymar and now Luis Suarez in the pecking order and he wants a new challenge. The 25-year-old would likely cost about £25 million to sign.

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With Suarez now a full member of the squad after seeing his four-month ban reach its end, logic would dictate he will make up Enrique's first-choice front three alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar.

However, no team challenging for European honours is merited on its starting XI alone, and in the interest of retaining a deep field of alternative resources at the club, Pedro must be kept inside Camp Nou confines.

In the likes of Munir El Haddadi, Sandro Ramirez and Rafinha, the coach does have a batch of highly promising prospects who will eventually come to fill such a void that Pedro might leave. But those players remain unripened.

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On the other hand, in Pedro, Barca have a World Cup winner and multiple-time Champions League and La Liga medallist, a Blaugrana veteran of more than a decade now who's finely in-tune with their beliefs and priorities.

What's more, Barcelona's transfer ban in 2015 places a rare urgency on the club to keep hold of just about every asset they have under their control at present, almost irrespective of prominence. 

Pedro came on to feature in Barca's 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the season this Saturday. Spanish writer Sergi Dominguez clearly feels the forward is no longer counted as one of the club's biggest talents:

It's not as though he's been given ample chance to shine under Enrique, though. Pedro's playing time has been disjointed and almost evenly split between places on the substitutes' bench and starting XI.

Per Squawka, Pedro has started in five of his La Liga appearances this season, netting one goal and creating another four scoring opportunities.

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It's far from his most prolific record, but were Neymar of any other of the higher-priority attackers in the side to suffer a long-term injury, his absence wouldn't go without notice.

Speaking in regards to his prospects and the competition last month, Pedro was quoted by the club's official website in saying:

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I just want to work. I’m competing with the best strikers in the world and it’s hard to always get in the team. What Munir and Sandro are doing is motivating for all of us. They want to do things right and that’s good for the team. And there’s still Suárez to come. The more the merrier.

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From the player's perspective, things may not be so positive, but the club should be happy they have such a willing figure on their hands, Pedro apparently willing to duel with the rest for a place in the team.

Due to their ban, things may not change that much next summer, either. Unless any appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport changes matters, their recruitment will still be halted, but by then Munir and Sandro may be more ready to thrive.

It's then that Barca should consider cashing in on the 27-year-old speedster, but any winter sale would make for a premature loss of a talent who very much still has something to offer.