Ed Woodward 72 Hours Away From Completing BIG Name Signing For Manchester United

Latest reports claim Manchester United were just 72 hours on three days away from signing Pedro Rodriguez from Barcelona before Chelsea hijacked the transfer.

Pedro signed for the Blues on Thursday, after being linked with United for months and it had looked as though the Spain international winger would be moving to Old Trafford when executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward flew into Spain to finalise negotiations with the Catalan giants.

Chelsea sensationally gazumped United, and the key players in the hijack are reported to be manager Jose Mourinho – whose one minute conversation (according to him) convinced Pedro, Chelsea director Marina Gravinoskaia and Cesc Fabregas – Pedro’s close pal and former team-mate at the Camp Nou.

As per Andy Mitten, the Red Devils were just 72 hours from signing the versatile attacker, which makes the Pedro move to Chelsea even harder to accept.

Other reports have also revealed the 28-year old had a rethink about the move to Man United, following Louis van Gaal’s treatments of David De Gea and Victor Valdes.

Manchester United will not try to make up for this loss with a marquee signing before the transfer window closes in 11 days time

They have been linked with top quality stars including Bayern Munich goal poacher Thomas Muller and Atletico Madrid whizz Antoine Griezmann. Barcelona’s front-man Neymar has also surprisingly emerged as a target.