Barcelona director Deco has flown over to England ahead of talks to ramp up a brutal raid on Chelsea, and he may even be in attendance at tomorrow’s FA Cup final.
Barcelona are in the market for a new focal point in their attack, with legendary striker, Robert Lewandowski, poised to depart via free agency.
Barca’s No 1 target for much of 2026 was Julian Alvarez of Atletico Madrid. The Argentine is receptive to advances from Barcelona, but this current version of Barcelona barely have two cents to rub together.
The LaLiga giant are already struggling to pay €30m for Marcus Rashford and cannot even begin to hope to afford what it’ll take to sign Alvarez without cajoling Atleti into accepting a mind-boggling deal structure and payment terms.
As such, cheaper options are on the agenda and over the past 24 hours, Mundo Deportivo confirmed Barcelona have pivoted to Chelsea’s Joao Pedro who is now their priority target.
And according to the latest from Spanish outlet SPORT, Barca director Deco has jetted over to London to discuss a transfer with Pedro’s representatives.
Deco to negotiate Joao Pedro transfer
The report claimed Deco might even be at Wembley for Chelsea’s FA Cup final clash with Man City on Saturday, while a face-to-face meeting between the director and Pedro isn’t out of the question either.
SPORT declared: ‘Deco has traveled to London to meet with the footballer’s agents in the coming days.
‘Furthermore, the sporting director may take advantage of his time in the British capital to attend the FA Cup final between Chelsea FC and Manchester City this Saturday at Wembley Stadium, a match in which João Pedro will be one of the key attacking attractions.
‘The trip has been handled with great secrecy within the club. At Barça, they want to proceed with ample time and foresight, aware that the economic situation necessitates a calm and meticulous approach to all scenarios.
‘A face-to-face meeting with the player himself is even a possibility during this period.’
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The report reaffirmed Pedro is now the ‘clear favourite’ to become Barca’s new starting striker after La Blaugrana determined the cost of signing Alvarez is too high.
The obvious questions to ask at this point in the story is are Chelsea willing to sell, and for how much?
Chelsea hold all the cards
Firstly, Blues fans should not begin to fret too much, with transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, stressing last week that Chelsea have no intention of selling Pedro.
The Brazilian has arguably been Chelsea’s player of the season after plundering 20 goals and providing nine assists.
What’s more, Chelsea are in an exceedingly strong bargaining position given Pedro is contracted until 2033. There is no release clause in his contract either.
As such, Chelsea can practically set any price tag they want, and even if Barca somehow meet it, they’re under no obligation to sell anyway.
Perhaps the only hope Barca have is unsettling the player by having their director fly over to London to negotiate personal terms, perhaps?
English clubs, even the most powerful ones, are no stranger to seeing their finest South American stars have their heads turned when Barcelona or Real Madrid come calling.
But in this instance, Chelsea should have nothing to fear from Barcelona if they simply hold their nerve and refuse to negotiate.
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