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With Liverpool deciding to trigger Christian Benteke’s £32.5M release clause and having already brought in Roberto Firmino for £29M, Reds fans might be thinking the club are largely done spending on pieces for the final third. They might not be done yet, though, at least if Sport are to be believed, as the paper with close ties to Barcelona claim they lead the race to sign Pedro Rodriguez.
The 27-year-old Spaniard has been linked with Liverpool so often over the past five years it’s tempting to dismiss such rumours out of hand, but reporters with ties to both clubs and the player himself have claimed that this time around, the interest is very real. This time around might actually be the time Pedro finally ends up headed to Liverpool. At least if Liverpool can convince the player of what they’re building.
Sport claim Chelsea have also enquired into the forward, but a €30M buyout clause has put off the defending Premier League champions. Liverpool aren’t willing to pay that much, either, but of the two sides they are the one that has signalled a willingness to head above the €20M mark—or about £14M—to land the versatile and hard working attacker. Pedro, though, could reportedly take some convincing.
It’s perhaps not entirely surprising that the player would be more intrigued by Chelsea interest, but if part of the reason for leaving Barcelona is playing time, that’s likely a point in Liverpool’s favour. With the way Liverpool have spent so far this summer, there also seems a solid case to be made to the player that his arrival could help to put Liverpool over the top in their push to get back into the Champions League.
For Pedro’s part, Sport claim the player is determined to wait for the outcome of the Barcelona presidential elections next week to decide if he is determined to leave. If whoever wins cannot or will not convince him he will get regular minutes next season, and if Chelsea are unwilling to up their valuation of him, a move to Liverpool could be completed in relatively short order at that point.
It all seems a little surreal after five years of being constantly linked to the player with little to no substance to the rumours, but it appears increasingly as though this time around, Pedro to Liverpool really might be a thing that could happen.
