Chelsea Football Club today confirmed the signing of Spanish forward Pedro Rodriguez from Barcelona for a fee of £21 million.
The club confirmed earlier today that the 28 year old Spanish international has agreed a 4 year deal to play at Stamford Bridge under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho. He said, “I am very happy to be here. I am very excited to start my adventure at Chelsea and I am here to keep winning titles. Thanks to the club and the supporters for giving me the opportunity to put the blue shirt on”.
Pedro is a product of the Catalan club’s revered academy system, making 321 appearances for Barcelona and scoring 99 times during his time there. He was a target for Manchester United, the club he scored a goal against in the 2011 Champion’s League final when the Spanish club beat the English team by 3 goals to 1. However he stalled on a move to Louis Van Gaal’s team in the hopes that a club more likely to win major honours would come in for him and got his wish when Mourinho showed an interest.
Pedro made 50 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona last season, helping the club to win a La Liga, Copa Del Rey and Champion’s League treble. He has previously won the European Cup 3 times with Barca as well as La Liga 5 times; he was also part of the Spanish side that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012.
Stats wise, Pedro matches up with the best of them. Since the 2009 – 2010 season only Lionel Messi has been involved in more league goals than Pedro. Messi has either scored or assisted in the scoring of 317 goals during that period, whilst Pedro has netted 58 goals and got 35 assists during the same amount of time. The fact that Messi was involved in 317 goals and Pedro in 93 shows the gulf in class between the players, but 93 is nothing to be sniffed at.
Pedro will be a welcome addition to Jose Mourinho’s squad, offering a more viable alternative than Radamel Falcao during any periods of injury that Diego Costa is likely to suffer. He will also offer competition to the likes of Hazard, Willian and Oscar in the more creative part of the Blues’ team.