Barcelona Transfer News: Luis Enrique Comments on Pedro Move

On Saturday, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique told reporters he knew Pedro was going to leave Barcelona this summer, commenting for the first time on the winger's move to Premier League champions Chelsea.

As reported by Sport English, his move to the Blues didn't come as a surprise to Enrique, as he said: "Pedro's decision was something I saw coming. It was what he wanted. And that's it, I can only wish him the best of luck at Chelsea." 

The 28-year-old spent his entire professional career with the Blaugrana and was a key figure in Pep Guardiola's dominant sides just a few years ago. The arrivals of Neymar and Luis Suarez pushed him down the pecking order, however, and entering the summer, many fans and pundits assumed he could leave the club.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

He started in 15 La Liga matches last season, per WhoScored.com, and proved himself to be both a force from the bench and a superb depth player. Given the Catalans' transfer ban, there was some hope he would stay for one more year and act as a super-sub, but that hope was squashed when he signed for Chelsea earlier this week.

According to Kieran Canning of Agence France Press, Pedro will return to Barcelona to say goodbye on Monday before reuniting with Cesc Fabregas in west London. Those two have found plenty of success together in the past, per OptaChelsea:

The saga surrounding Pedro dominated headlines throughout the summer, but through it all, Enrique maintained he hoped Pedro would decide to stay with his boyhood club, providing him with another powerful weapon in attack.

Manchester United were most often mentioned as a potential destination for Pedro, and a spokesman for his agency told Cadena Ser (h/t Sport Witness) the Red Devils were involved in talks before Chelsea swept in and sealed a deal:

Speed appears to have been the key throughout the process. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claims it took him just one minute to convince Pedro to join the Blues, via the Daily Mail's Neil Ashton:

"

It was one minute - a one minute conversation.

I asked: 'Is it true that you want to leave Barcelona?' 'Yes, it's true. I love it here. It's my home, but it's time for me to move.' 

'Did you sign already for another club?' 'Almost, but not yet'. 'Do you want to come here?' 'Yes, I want.' For me, it was one minute. 

"

Even in those comments, Pedro's love and respect for his former club shine through, and it's easy to understand why he has decided to return to the city on Monday to say his goodbyes to his team-mates, the fans and the Camp Nou in a formal press conference.

Barcelona has been Pedro's home for the last decade, so the decision to leave the club cannot have been an easy one. Enrique claims he saw it coming from the very start, so it's safe to assume the forward struggled with it long enough before deciding it was time for a change.

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