da 888casino： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
da marjack bet： Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about Pedro potentially going back to Barcelona.
It all started with the 32-year-old’s own words about a possible reunion in the not so distant future. When speaking to SER Catalunya (via Sport), the Spaniard expressed his wishes to go back and once again made it known that he is still in love with the Catalan club.
“Everyone knows what I feel for the club and it’s evident that it’s a possibility to go back. I don’t know if it’s in the hands of the president, the coach or whoever. I think for them my return is difficult but it’s clearly a possibility.”
That statement is nothing particularly new.
After all, Pedro has been a loyal servant to the Blaugrana badge throughout most of his illustrious career and he only swapped Camp Nou for Stamford Bridge back in 2015.
Since then, his expertise has been put to good to use in the Premier League as he managed to tally 42 goals and 26 assists up to this point in his adventure as one of the Blues. Not to mention that he also has three major titles to boast as Chelsea snatched one Premier League crown, one FA Cup title and even a Europa League trophy with Pedro in their ranks.
Where Are They Now: Chelsea edition. Do you know where all these Blues stars have ended up?
But shortly after the player’s own admission, Ernesto Valverde hinted that this scenario might even be possible in the future. The Basque coach was pretty careful in his approach but he practically left the door open for such a scenario in a press conference, as per quotes from AS:
“He’s a historic Barca player – let’s not kid ourselves. He’s one of the players to win the most titles with this club, but he plays for another club now.
“We have to respect players at other clubs. We’ll see what might happen in the future.”
We have already discussed how Pedro can certainly give something to Barcelona and with his contract due to expire next summer, he wouldn’t be an expensive purchase.
But what we also have take into account is that the Catalans have both Ansu Fati and Carles Perez emerging from their academies and a certain Ousmane Dembele waiting in the wings, and this could have a negative impact on all of their futures.
Pedro certainly has his qualities but with Fati only tallying 413 and Perez 632 minutes in the ongoing campaign, it’s evident that they are already aching for more game time.
And what’s quite interesting is that currently, Pedro’s experiencing the other side of the coin – finding himself pushed out in favour of young players.
The Chelsea man can only boast with 592 minutes in 2019/20, with the likes of Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.
So it becomes a question of who has the correct idea here out of Lampard and the Barcelona boss.
Whereas the new Blues coach is ensuring the club have a solid foundation with their youth stars in place, Valverde is doing the exact opposite by turning towards a proven veteran who can only offer short-term gain.
Maybe it is a risky move by Lampard but it’s also something that could reap him enormous rewards in the not so distant future. Besides, with the team sitting in fourth place in the Premier League as we speak, that risk is already paying off.
Barcelona doing the opposite and going for the Spaniard could make matters much worse for their La Masia graduates who simply have to play in order to improve.
And where would Pedro take the club in his second stint anyway? Is he enough on his own to mastermind another Champions League title? Surely investing in a new generation of huge potential makes more sense.
When everything is said and done, Barcelona have to decide whether this deal really takes the club forward. Chelsea are looking to the future – Valverde needs to do the same.
In other news, Lyon have to make sure they don’t lose both of their superstars who are wanted by Chelsea and Liverpool…