Reds Ready to Meet Barcelona in the Middle over Pedro Rodriguez Fee

Now that Raheem Sterling has been shipped off to Manchester City and Liverpool are just bursting at the seams with cash, the Reds look set to follow up on meeting Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke’s release clause with the signing of Barcelona forward Pedro Rodriguez.

Well, at least that’s what the Spanish papers are saying. The versaitile attacker, who has struggled to break into the Catalan giants first team ahead of the powerhouse trio of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr, has already confirmed that his release clause has been lowered from a staggering £130mil to a far more manageable £20.9mil, but according to Sport, he could be heading to Merseyside for a bit less than that.

“It’s true that between both sides, we decided to lower my release clause and there are offers. I’m in a very difficult position at Barcelona, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” said the 27-year old in a recent interview. ” I’m only interested in getting back to work on Wednesday with my teammates and then we’ll see what happens.”

And back to work he went yesterday with the Barcelona first team, but if Liverpool can convince him to trade La Liga for the Premier League, he could be Anfield bound in a move rumoured to be worth £14mil. Of course that’s not quite what they’re looking for, but it is a fee reportedly higher than what Chelsea, who also retain a keen interest in the winger, are willing to part with to bring him to Stamford Bridge — which is probably best for everyone since it’s unlikely that Pedro would be all too pleased when the Blues inevitably loaned him out…