Manchester United willing to trigger A?22 million release-clause of Chelsea and Liverpool target Pedro

The Barcelona forward is said to be open to a move away from his boyhood club – with Chelsea FC and Liverpool linked with the Spanish international – and Premier League giants Manchester United have now thrown their hat in the ring for the 27-year-old

With Catalan giants Barcelona scheduled to wrap up the election of their new president today, the future of Pedro is unlikely to remain uncertain for much longer. The Barcelona forward has hinted that he would be open to a move away from the club, and Manchester United are reportedly set to challenge Chelsea and Liverpool for the signature of the Spaniard.

Manchester United ready to activate Pedro release-clause

According to reports in several of England’s leading newspapers – including the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Mirror – Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is considering Pedro to improve his attacking options and is prepared to match the Barcelona winger’s A?22 million release-clause.

Reports in the Guardian claim that the Dutch manager intends to play a 4-3-3 formation with Manchester United next season – one that Pedro is used to playing with Barcelona, and one that could take advantage of his versatility and ability to play anywhere across the front-line.

With A?ngel Di Mar a linked with a move to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain, Pedro could act as a potential replacement for the Argentinian. Indeed, even if Di Mar a stays at the club, Van Gaal is short of striking options and given the dearth of available world-class forwards in the current market, an intelligent player like Pedro could bolster the options for that position for Manchester United.

English media reports likely to have come from one source

Given the seemingly coordinated release of reports on Friday evening in the English press linking Pedro with Manchester United, it is fairly obvious that the journalists responsible for the reports were briefed by one source.

The likes of Jamie Jackson, Mark Ogden, Ian Ladyman and David McDonell amongst others are all Manchester correspondents for their respective papers, who also all happen to be in Seattle, where a new-look Manchester United team began their preparations for the coming season with a win in their first pre-season friendly.

It would seem vice-chairman Edward Woodward has again been briefing the press about his transfer intentions, although the specific purpose of this briefing is anybody’s guess.

Pedro’s future could be at one of three clubs

It would be fair to say that out of the three Premier League teams interested in the Spanish international, Manchester United and Chelsea would stand out as attractive options for the 27-year-old for the next stage of his career.

With Pedro keeping his cards close to his chest, it is very difficult to know which way he will lean. Whilst yesterday’s reports claimed Manchester United are favourites, reports in the Catalan press earlier in the month stated Chelsea are leading the race – with Pedro allegedly having had conversations with Blues manager Jos Mourinho and international team-mate Cesc F bregas.

It could be that Pedro – who clearly has immense feelings for Barcelona – is convinced by the new president to remain at the club for one more season, given that the Catalan giants’ transfer ban precludes them from registering new signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal until 2016.

With both Manchester United and Chelsea beginning their pre-season in earnest, it is likely that they would want a resolution soon, and with Barcelona’s president set to be elected today, the next few days could well reveal where Pedro will be playing his football come September.