Chelsea Transfer News: Pedro Contract Offer Readied, Latest Kenedy Rumours
Barcelona winger Pedro has confirmed he has received some offers to leave the Catalan giants, with Chelsea apparently ready to tempt the winger with a transfer.
Despite signing a contract extension with the Blaugrana this summer there has been plenty of discussion surrounding Pedro’s future. According to John Cross of the Daily Mirror, the Blues will test the La Liga side’s resolve to keep the forward with a £20 million bid and a four-year deal for the player.
Pedro has admitted there has been interest, but denied talk he had already spoken with Chelsea about a potential move, per Marca:
"It's true that we decided to lower my buyout clause and that there are offers. I'm in a difficult situation at Barcelona, but I don't want to reveal anything. All I'm interested in is getting down to work on Wednesday with my teammates and then we'll see
I haven't spoken to Mourinho. I don't want to say anything, because it would be a lack of respect towards my club. For now I just want to enjoy myself with the kids at the camp.
It's a difficult situation. You want more game time, more chances and to be the first choice. I know that being at Barca is like nowhere else. It's a dream come true to be here. I've won lots of titles and that fills me with satisfaction and joy, but you have that ambition to continue improving and to play
"
Pedro was once a vital part of the Barcelona team which evolved into one of the very best sides of all time. He gave Pep Guardiola’s team an effervescent edge when stationed out wide, capable of taking opposition defenders on with ease and getting into the box regularly to get on the end of chances.
But as is evident here courtesy of OptaJose, the 27-year-old fell out of favour last season at the Camp Nou:
Indeed, there are few players in world football capable of ousting Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez or Neymar from that incredible attacking trio. Although Pedro would have previously been the man to step in had any of those players been injured or suspended, Barca’s capture of Arda Turan seems to have complicated matters further for the World Cup winner.
Chelsea would be a wonderful club for the Spanish international to relaunch himself and if Jose Mourinho could get a tune out of Pedro, he’d be a good acquisition. Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe still rates him highly:
Pedro would have a fight on his hands to get into the Blues starting XI with Eden Hazard and Willian typically operating in wide areas. But he is a direct, incisive and dynamic presence that’d add a different option to Chelsea’s attacking forays. The Barca man's work rate is also a trait that would endear him to Mourinho.
If the Blues can get this one over the line, Pedro is the kind of player that’ll get the supporters excited at Stamford Bridge. After slipping down the pecking order at the Camp Nou, it seems as though the player would jump at the chance of a fresh start too.
Kenedy Capture Imminent
The Blues look poised to secure what is likely to be their fourth summer signing imminently, with Brazilian youngster Kenedy uploading a picture to the photo-sharing application, Snapchat, in which he appears to be at Chelsea’s Cobham training complex.
That’s according to Metro (h/t Colin Harvey of the Daily Star) who claim a £6.3 million deal is in the offing. Earlier in the season, Bleacher Report’s Guillem Balague provided the lowdown on what we can expect from this highly-rated 19-year-old:
Kenedy is an adaptable talent and seems as though he could fulfil a variety of roles for Mourinho’s side. But getting minutes in this Chelsea team seems as though it’s going to be very difficult for the raw youngster and it’ll be intriguing to see what kind of role he plays, if any at all, in the first team in 2015-16.
As noted here by Selecao Brasileira, the Fluminense man will add to the Blues' burgeoning crop of Brazilian talent:
"Chelsea's 9 Brazilian born players would then be: Wallace, Filipe Luís, Ramires, Willian, Oscar, Nathan, Kenedy, Lucas Piazon, Diego Costa.
— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStats) July 9, 2015"
Chelsea are renowned for the amount of youngsters they send out on loan and you suspect that Kenedy will join another team on a temporary basis in order to accrue some vital game time. But it’s important he shows the requisite talent to prevent him falling through the cracks in this Blues setup, like so many others have done previously.
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