Barça’s Want-Away Duo of Adriano and Pedro
Barcelona fullback Adriano Correia wants to leave the Catalan treble winners and has reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Roma. The Brazilian defender joined Barça in 2010 and thanks to his versatility, became an integral part of Pep Guardiola’s team. Able to play as a right-back, left-back, central midfielder, and on the wing, Adriano has won three La Ligas, two Copa del Reys and two UEFA Champions Leagues during his time at Barça. But under Luis Enrique, he has fallen behind the likes of Dani Alvez, Douglas and Aleix Vidal at right-back and Jordi Alba and Jeremy Mathieu at left-back.
Adriano did feature in Barça’s 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in a preseason friendly at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Tuesday, but the 31-year-old has found it hard to get into the team during regular season play. A move to the Serie A runners-up would bring the opportunity for regular first-team football.
Roma have reportedly valued the former Sevilla player at around $8 million. However, Adriano is under contract until 2017 and has a ridiculously high buyout clause of over $90 million. Speaking to reporters after the victory over Galaxy, Barça manager Luis Enrique was insistent that anyone interested in signing Adriano would have to meet that clause.
Meanwhile, fellow Barcelona want-away Pedro Rodriguez is being strongly linked with a move to Manchester United. Pedro, who famously scored in six different competitions during Barcelona’s legendary sextuplet-winning first season under Guardiola, has also found himself shuffled down the pecking order. With Enrique preferring the deadly trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar up front, Pedro has found his opportunities limited.
Pedro, who has a release clause of around $35 million, has also been linked with Chelsea. Enrique has made it no secret that he would prefer to keep the 27-year-old who also featured in the win against Galaxy. However were the release clause to be met, Pedro would be a sensational addition to the attack of any club.