Chelsea Transfer News: Latest on Pedro, Axel Witsel, John Stones, Top Rumours

Chelsea will battle Manchester United for the services of Barcelona forward Pedro, with Camp Nou boss Luis Enrique admitting the decision is in the hands of the player.

Bleacher Report's Spanish football journalist, Rik Sharma, quoted the coach of the Blaugrana speaking about the international attacker, who has fallen out of favour since the capture of Luis Suarez:

TuttoMercatoWeb (h/t Lee Thomas-Mason of Metro) reported Chelsea are willing to meet Pedro's £21 million buy-out clause, as Mourinho looks for a replacement for flop signing Juan Cuadrado. 

The Colombian wide player joined the Blues in the January transfer window but has failed to nail down a starting place in Mourinho's talent-laden midfield. 

Pedro would not be a like-for-like replacement for Cuadrado, but his versatility across the attack would give Mourinho the options he desires. The Special One is well aware of the player's talents, having competed against him during his time at Real Madrid. 

Doug Benc/Associated Press

The arrival of Arda Turan at the Camp Nou will further limit Pedro's chances of match time, and it seems the player will be motivated to exit the Catalan club. 

It is suggested in the report that Chelsea will offer the Spain international a lucrative four-year deal in order to gain his signature and defeat the interest of United. 

The 27-year-old was primarily used as a substitute during Barca's historic treble-winning campaign, supporting the trio of Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar. Pedro appeared 44 times in La Liga and the Champions League, scoring six times and providing six assists, per WhoScored.com. Vitally, the player started 25 of these games on the bench, and any move would surely be to attain a starting berth.

No Room for Witsel, Stones Bid to Follow

Michel Spingler/Associated Press

In other news, Mourinho has commented about two potential Chelsea captures in Axel Witsel and John Stones. The Chelsea boss appears to be cool on grabbing midfielder Witsel and highlighted he has many options in this department, per Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur:

Metro's Jamie Sanderson reported on Tuesday the Blues were in discussions to sign the talented player from Zenit St. Petersburg, with former agent and Witsel close confidant, Francesco Ligenti, confirming the talks: "The player wants to play in the Champions League. Chelsea? Here there have been some contacts, we will see if it happens."

Sanderson said Roman Abramovich has reportedly been in Russia to thrash out a deal, but Mourinho's latest comments appear to contradict this. 

Clint Hughes/Associated Press

The Chelsea manager has also conceded it might take a huge offer to grab John Stones away from Everton, per the Sun (h/t Sky Sports.) The coach has also risked the wrath of the Merseyside club, referring to them as a "small club," as they look to do business with the Goodison Park outfit:

"

That is the market now. You only pay it if you want to. If you don't want to pay it, don't pay. It's as simple as that. The market has no rules or limits from season to season. It's a good market. That's why smaller clubs, if they have interesting young English players, they use that in the right way for them. I don't criticise them. They play the market for themselves. If the big clubs don't want to go over certain limits, they have to make a decision.

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Pedro and Stones would be interesting acquisitions for Chelsea, but it does not seem there is room in the squad for Witsel in an already congested part of the squad. 

Pedro would bring goals and experience to Mourinho's forward line, as the club looks to capture its second Champions League title over the course of the next nine months. However, he might find getting into the starting XI a huge issue at Chelsea, with Eden Hazard and Oscar in his path. 

Stones is one of the most talented young centre-backs in the English game, but whether he would be happy to sit on the Chelsea bench remains to be seen. Undoubtedly, the Blues need to look for a long-term replacement for John Terry, but whether the timing is perfect at present is questionable for all parties.