Chelsea capture Pedro ahead of Manchester United, forward having medical on Wednesday

According to Marca, Chelsea have stepped in and gazumped Manchester United. That's right. Gazumped. The Spanish paper, which isn't averse to sensationalizing, is reporting on Wednesday that Chelsea have reached an agreement with FC Barcelona for the transfer of Pedro Rodriguez, and that the player is in London ahead of a medical:

Pedro Rodríguez is all set to join Chelsea. The Blues and Barça struck a deal on Tuesday night for an initial €28m plus another €2m in add-ons, gazumping Manchester United's offer of €25m up front and up to €5m in extras. Manchester City are understood to have never submitted a formal bid for the pacy wideman/forward.

Pedro is already in London undergoing a medical, having been given permission to do so by Barcelona. An official announcement of the move is expected imminently.

In addition to Marca's report, Sky Sports has reported that Manchester United have bowed out of the race to sign the Spanish forward, adding a bit of fuel to the Pedro to Chelsea fire. If accurate, this is probably bad news for Juan Cuadrado, who failed to impress yet again in his cameo against Manchester City.

I'm sure there will be plenty of updates as Wednesday progresses...