Rumour: Liverpool closing in on Barcelona star Pedro

In the absence of Lionel Messi, other members of the Barcelona squad have had to step up to ensure that the four-time Ballon d’Or winner was not missed too greatly. One such player is Pedro, a man who, on Sunday evening, dragged Barcelona from 2-0 down against Getafe to a 5-2 victory following an astonishing nine-minute hat-trick and who has recently been linked by the Express with a move to Liverpool.

Pedro’s career has been an interesting one so far; without Pep Guardiola’s decision to retain his services at Barcelona B, it is unlikely that we would currently be discussing a potential move to Liverpool. However, the current Bayern Munich manager’s influence over Pedro was so great that the 26-year-old now has a £125 million release clause in his contract when he could have once left Barcelona for nothing.

Liverpool have, in recent games, appeared to be dependent on the goals of Luis Suarez and, whilst other players have chipped in, the Uruguayan striker is the predominant goalscorer in Brendan Rodgers’ squad. Pedro, who has scored ten times in 16 league games this season, would offer an alternative source of goals for the Reds and ensure that Liverpool do not become so centred around Suarez that stopping him means stopping the whole side.

The Spaniard has a tendency, like many modern wingers, to attack the centre of the pitch as well as the flanks; this would be beneficial in a Liverpool side which encourages attacking runs from its full-backs, as the movement towards the inside of the pitch creates space which can be exploited by the likes of Glen Johnson and the recently promoted Jon Flanagan.

Moreover, it often enables Pedro to overload the opposition centre-backs, subsequently creating space for either himself of his side’s striker – at Liverpool, alongside Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, this would be highly valued for it could give the duo the room to be even more deadly than they have proved so far in 2013-14.

Whilst Brendan Rodgers has appeared to move away from the 3-5-2 formation in recent games, he did finish the recent match with Cardiff using it and it is certainly an option for Liverpool; Pedro, whilst known for his attacking abilities, could be used as one of the incredibly important wing-backs in this system.

This season, the Spaniard has won 69% of his attempted tackles, showing that he has some defensive ability – this, coupled with the attacking prowess outlined earlier, makes Pedro an ideal candidate to feature in this position should Rodgers opt to switch his side’s set-up.

Pedro’s wide variety of abilities makes him well suited to a Liverpool team which, at present, looks capable of seriously threatening for the Premier League title. Adding a 26-year-old who is entering the peak of his career to his team’s ranks would provide Rodgers with the extra bit of quality which is vital in challenging for honours and could propel the Reds closer towards a first Premier League title – whether Barcelona will let the winger leave, however, is a different matter altogether.