Barcelona defender Dani Alves has revealed that he advised Pedro Rodriguez to stay put at the Camp Nou before he moved to Chelsea, adding that the whole squad wanted the forward to stay.
Pedro struggled for regular first team action at the Camp Nou in his final season at the club as he found himself competing with the trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi for a starting spot.
This summer, after much speculation surrounding his future at the club, the forward moved to Chelsea of the English Premier League, while he was linked with Manchester United as well as Manchester City.
Alves has revealed that he told Pedro to stay put at the club, and the whole team wanted the Canary Islander to stay put at the Camp Nou as well, but the decision was not in the hands of the players.
"I told him he should stay in the team, but there were many people involved in the matter”, he was quoted as saying by Spanish daily AS.
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"If he had stayed, he would have remained happy here, but we [players] do not take decisions.
“If it had been for us, he would have been here many years”, he concluded.
Barcelona are struggling with injuries and their inability to register new players due to a FIFA ban. In the prevailing circumstances, Pedro could have been a valuable asset to the team.
