Luis Enrique: I want Pedro to stay at Barcelona

The Spain international is in Manchester United's sights and his Barca coach wants to keep the forward in Catalunya, but admits the decision rests with the player himself Barcelona coach Luis Enrique says he wants Pedro to stay at Camp Nou amid significant interest from Manchester United. The English side are lining up a deal worth around £22 million (€30m) for the 28-year-old attacker, but former Roma and Celta Vigo boss Luis Enrique insists he doesn't want his player to leave the European champions. "Pedro is a high-level player and as a coach I want him to stay here, but is his decision," he told reporters on Tuesday. "There will only be exits if someone wants to leave and at the moment we don't have news about this." United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is widely reported to be heading to Catalunya in an attempt to close a deal, while manager Louis van Gaal admitted recently that Pedro's qualities are exactly what he needs in his squad. "Barcelona have the speed of Neymar and [Lionel] Messi -- and they have Pedro behind them. We have to compete with that,” Van Gaal toldThe Sun. "We can win the title if we can buy players with speed and creativity. We have to improve our selection in that way." Pedro started only 15 league games for Barcelona in 2014-15 after finding himself pushed to the fringes of the first team after Luis Suarez's arrival from Liverpool. Luis Enrique stressed in July that any clubs interested in signing Pedro must meet the forward’s £22m release clause, while Uruguay international Suarez has urged his teammate to remain at Camp Nou. Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola promoted Pedro from Barcelona’s B team to the first-team squad in 2008, and believes that he has the ability to play for “any team in the world.”