Barcelona Transfer News: Latest on Pedro and Sergi Samper Rumours

Pedro is set to move to Manchester United—but not before making one last appearance for Barcelona.

According to Joe Short of the Express, "Barcelona have stalled on their sale of winger Pedro" in order for the Spaniard to feature in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla on Wednesday.

After the departures of Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria this summer, United are in serious need of more firepower in forward areas. Manager Louis van Gaal has spoken of the Red Devils' desire to recruit and even mentioned Pedro as a player who suits their needs.

According to Harry Sherlock of Goal.com, the Dutchman told the Sun: "Barcelona have the speed of Neymar and [Lionel] Messi—and they have Pedro behind them. We have to compete with that. We can win the title if we can buy players with speed and creativity. We have to improve our selection in that way."

Speed and creativity are certainly two qualities Pedro possesses in abundance.

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Despite largely being utilised as a substitute for Neymar, Messi and Luis Suarez, the 28-year-old contributed 20 goals in all competitions last season, scoring 11 times and making nine assists.

Pedro's aforementioned attributes, along with his intelligent runs and cool finishing, ensure he will be an excellent acquisition for United.

Expect an emotional farewell for the forward on Wednesday, who has enjoyed 11 successful years with the Catalan giants.

Barcelona Reluctant to Sell Sergi Samper

According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo (via James Cambridge of the Express), Arsenal are hopeful of signing Sergi Samper and are prepared to pay his £8.4 million release clause.

Should the Gunners activate his clause, they will be free to negotiate a deal with the defensive midfielder.

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The problem for Arsenal is that, per Cambridge's report, "Sport suggests Barca are keen to hold onto the defensive midfielder and will offer him first-team incentives to stay."

The 20-year-old earned 10 yellow cards for Barcelona B last season, which indicates the bite he brings to his game. Samper also showed off his creative side, as he registered five assists in all competitions.

Though Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets will comprise manager Luis Enrique's first-choice central midfield trio, the departure of Xavi Hernandez does open up some opportunities for a new player to establish himself in the squad.

However, football journalist Rafael Hernandez notes Samper has struggled for game time even in pre-season:

At Arsenal, the youngster would provide competition for Francis Coquelin as Arsenal's holding midfielder.

While the Gunners also have Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini who can feature in that role, both are on the wrong side of 30 and will need to be rotated more and more in the coming years.

As Bleacher Report's own Gianni Verschueren notes, there could be serious consequences for the Blaugrana should they sell their hot academy prospects such as Samper and Adama Traore, which explains their reluctance to let the former go, even if they're struggling to find a place for him.

However, with Arsenal likely to provide more first-team chances in the near future, Samper could well be tempted by a switch to north London.