Chelsea 'on brink of £22m Pedro signing' to leave Manchester United stunned

United have been chasing the Spain international, 28, all summer, with lengthy negotiations continuing even as Pedro played for Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup. But widespread reports on Wednesday indicate Chelsea are now poised to sign the forward in a £22 million deal.

Spanish daily Marca reports that Pedro is in London to finalise the move which comes as a huge shock given the expectancy that he would join up with Louis van Gaal's side.

The Daily Mail say United ended their interest in the player at Van Gaal's behest - although given United dispatched chief executive Ed Woodward to Barcelona to get the deal done on Monday it seems they have been gazumped by their Premier League rivals. The Mail says Pedro was not even aware Woodward was in the city.

Van Gaal has consistently batted away questions about the club's pursuit of Pedro but his arrival at Old Trafford was seen as a near formality. United legend Paul Scholes even said the signing could help the club win the Champions League:

" "I think they potentially could win it, if they can add someone with a bit of pace like Pedro up front.""

WHAT HAPPENED TO UNITED? 

Negotiations had been dragging on for some time and there were some worrying noises at the end of last week when the Guardian reported that Pedro was stalling on the move due to fears over the management style of Van Gaal, who had exiled his good friend Victor Valdes from the first-team set up. The failure to get a deal done in an adequate time frame, with Pedro returning to the Barca first XI following a case of mumps for Neymar and scoring the winning goal in the 5-4 UEFA Super Cup win over Sevilla, did not help matters.

(eurosport.co.uk)