Barcelona president gives update on £22m Manchester United target’s future

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Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has spoken out on the future of Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea target Pedro, reports the Daily Express.

The 52-year-old made it clear that he doesn’t expect the Spain international to leave the Nou Camp, and will be trying to keep hold of him. This is surprising considering Blaugranas manager Luis Enrique had only recently mentioned that he was powerless to stop the 27-year-old from leaving the Nou Camp if someone met his £22 million release clause [Daily Telegraph].

“Pedro? If he wants to go, a club will have to meet his release clause,” Enrique said. “I have talked with Pedro to discuss his situation. I have told him how I think about it and he told me how he feels about it, but I obviously won’t reveal the exact content of the conversation we had.”

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Bartomeu appeared to contradict this though, and also mentioned that no bids have been received for the winger.

“We’ve made it clear. The team is complete, the idea was to have the squad that we have now and we’re not expecting any departures,” he said, “If someone wants to leave, they will have to tell us, because we have no information about anyone wanting to do so. We haven’t had any offers.

“If someone leaves, it will be because the player asks to. We don’t want anyone to go.”

The Premier League duo may have been hopeful that Pedro was available as he has found it difficult to get in to the starting XI at Barca over the last 12 months. Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, and Neymar are currently occupying the forward positions at the Catalan club, leaving no room for the La Masia graduate. The recent arrival of Arda Turan may knock him even further down the pecking order once the Turkey international is available to play from January.

However, with their historic treble to defend, the La Liga giants appear to want to keep all of their stars. This will be an especially big blow for the Red Devils who had been thought to be within 48 hours of signing the player [London Evening Standard]. Now manager Louis van Gaal will have to look elsewhere, and it could be urgent if Angel Di Maria completes a rumoured move to PSG [talkSPORT].

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