Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea hierarchy believe that they can land another big signing before the end of the transfer window, having completed the £21.1m deal for Pedro from Barcelona in time for Sunday's game at West Bromwich Albion.
The club have long looked upon the £70m-rated Paul Pogba at Juventus as ideal for their needs but, with the Italian club having already sold midfielder Arturo Vidal to Bayern Munich this summer, it would take a massive investment to get Pogba. Even so Abramovich is keen that the club do not falter in their title defence in their third season under Jose Mourinho.
The urgency with which the Pedro deal was completed this week reflects the club's belief that they were too slow to add new faces this summer. There is a will to make further signings, beyond that of defender John Stones from Everton, to make sure that Mourinho has a highly competitive squad when the transfer window closes on 1 September.
Stones will only be signed if the player is himself prepared to push to leave Everton, with Chelsea having raised their bid to £30m - what they believe is a fair price for the 21-year-old. In the past they have walked away from deals, most notably over Wayne Rooney, when the impetus was not there from the player.
New signing Pedro had his first training session at Cobham yesterday and said that Mourinho had been key in bringing him to the club. There was late interest from Manchester United but Chelsea had long since received assurances that Pedro wanted to come to Stamford Bridge.
Pedro said: “He [Mourinho] is one of the main reasons why I'm here. He phoned me a few times and said he needed me to make the team stronger. He has won titles wherever he has been. I am really looking forward to playing under him and, hopefully, winning more titles.” – The Independent