Pedro suggested Roma manager Jose Mourinho is the reason behind his controversial move to Lazio.

The winger left the Giallorossi in the summer transfer window for their Roman rivals where he has reunited with former Blues boss Maurizio Sarri.

The Spain international made that decision after being frozen out of the team by Mourinho and the rest of his coaching staff.

But the 34-year-old found what he was looking for after just one conversation with Sarri and now insists that Roma belong to the past.

Pedro said: “It was very complicated in Roma, they left me out of the team and none of the coaches spoke to me, I didn’t know anything about this matter.

“When I spoke with Maurizio Sarri I realised that Lazio was a great opportunity.

“It is true that no player has left Roma for Lazio in a long time, but I am very happy here.

“Roma is in the past, I don’t want to talk about that anymore, my goal now is to help Lazio and my team-mates.”

Pedro joined Roma in 2020 following a five-year stint at Chelsea where he won a Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League title.

The former Barcelona star amassed a total of 43 goals and 28 assists in 206 appearances across all competitions at Stamford Bridge.

The Spaniard also spent some time with Mourinho in west London during the disastrous 2015-2016 campaign that saw the team finishing 10th and the Portuguese manager getting fired mid-way through the season.

But the former Manchester United and Tottenham boss didn’t maintain Pedro within his ranks following six goals and seven assists in 40 matches at Roma.