Reports in Italy claim Pedro’s move to AS Roma has suffered serious setback as the Spaniard is said to have been offered to Spanish clubs, amidst fresh speculation the Chelsea winger wants to return to his homeland.
The Chelsea star’s contract at Stamford Bridge at the end June, and the London club are not interested in renewing it.
AS Roma seemed to be closing in on a free transfer for Pedro, with various reports stating they were his preferred destination as cited by Football Italia.
However, Superdeporte is now claiming the former Barcelona ace ‘has the desire’ to play in La Liga again after five years in England.
With that in mind, he would have been offered to the likes of Valencia, Sevilla and Real Betis.
The issue for them would be related to wages, with the 32-year-old currently on €110,000 a week at Chelsea.
Chelsea are set to face Queens Park Rangers in a behind closed doors friendly ahead of the restart of the Premier League.
The Blues have been training for the past few weeks, moving up to restricted contact work, while continuing to follow the Government’s guidelines and protocol on safe social distancing at all other times.
With a return to match action on the horizon, Lampard wanted his players to get back out on the grass at Stamford Bridge and held an in-house game for his squad on Saturday.
The squad was split into two sides, one wearing the home shirt and the other side in the club’s white away kit, and match rules and conditions were in place. Although it was Lampard and his coaching staff that were officiating on this occasion.
A date has, however, not been fixed for the Chelsea-QPR friendly as both clubs ramp up their preparations for a return to Premier League and Championship action in a fortnight from now.
The Blues kick off their restarted campaign with a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday June 21. QPR’s Championship season also resumes that weekend with final details of fixtures to be confirmed.
Chelsea legend Michael Ballack believes the transfer makes sense for RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner and for the Blues.
The Stamford Bridge club are on the brink of completing the signing of Timo Werner, beating the likes of Liverpool to a deal for the forward.
The 24-year-old has been in superb form this season, netting 31 goals and providing 13 assists in all competitions.
Ballack thinks Werner will get more playing time at Stamford Bridge than Anfield and will fit the style of play that Frank Lampard uses, reports Sunday Express.
“I think it’s a good decision for both sides. For Timo, because he fits there, because the way [Chelsea] play football suits him,” the former Germany midfielder explained to Sky.
“I think that in Chelsea he has decided on a club where he has a better chance of playing, which is very important to him.
“The team will be renewed, it will certainly be strengthened and a lot of money will be spent in Chelsea to knock again at the top.
“A good young team is being built there, which is very promising.”
Bundesliga side RB Leipzig have denied reports that they have agreed a deal with Chelsea over forward Timo Werner.
Chelsea are understood to have agreed a deal in principle to sign Werner for €55m (£49.4), with the 24-year-old set to earn £200,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge.
According to the club’s managing director Oliver Mintzlaff, RB Leipzig “haven’t had an exchange with Chelsea yet. So we have nothing to report.”
Werner played the full 90 minutes on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with bottom side Paderborn, which kept Leipzig occupying the third of four Bundesliga Champions League qualification places.
“We’re concentrating on the final games in the league. We want to qualify for the Champions League. That’s the only thing we are discussing with Timo right now,” Mintzlaff told Sky Germany.
“It was important for us to extend the contract with him. We did that last summer, because it’s important for our young club that no player leaves for free.
“Of course there is this exit clause, which we put in the contract to give him the opportunity to take the next step. Now Timo Werner is in the driver’s seat, not us. Until now, neither Werner has pulled the clause, nor has any club sent us a transfer contract.”
Asked specifically about a move to Chelsea, Mintzlaff responded: “No, we haven’t had an exchange with Chelsea yet. So we have nothing to report. Timo Werner is a player of RB Leipzig. He has signaled a few weeks ago that he is working on a transfer. But so far, there’s no closed deal yet.
“If Timo Werner would change, then we are sure that we can find a solution with the new club, that he can play the Bundesliga season with us to the end, whenever that is. With the Champions League, we can’t discuss it until we know when the Champions League will take place. That won’t be decided until mid-June.”
Klopp appeared to suggest that Liverpool are unwilling to lay out major transfer fees in the current economic climate, and that it would be contradictory to do so while potentially having to ask players to take reduced wages.
“There are all sorts of rumours in England about who Manchester United are going to pick, Chelsea are going to pick,” he said.
“It’s rather quiet here (at Liverpool) at the moment, I think it’s safe to say. If you want to take it seriously and run a normal business and depend on income and have no idea how much you will earn… especially because we don’t know when we can start playing with spectators again.
“At the moment, all clubs are losing money. Without spectators, we have to pay back the season tickets and probably sell none next year. At least maybe without the first 10 or 15 games. The VIP areas won’t be packed and the tickets won’t be sold. This will have an impact on other partners and things will look a bit different.
“Discussing with the players about things like salary waivers and on the other hand buying a player for £50-60m, we have to explain.”
