Aston Villa interested in cut-price deal with Chelsea for Pedro — report

There’s a very good chance that Pedro has played his final game for Chelsea, in what was already a surprise appearance (let alone start!) in last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat by West Ham United. The 32-year-old veteran winger is into the final few months of his contract, and an extension is quite unlikely, to say the least.

Despite his precipitous fall down to the bottom of the depth chart, Pedro has recently talked about being “calm” about his future. That wasn’t just his professionalism talking; he believes that Chelsea will “treat him in the best way” just as we’ve always done. Basically, if he wants to move on in January, we won’t be making that difficult for him. In light of his excellent service to the club, it’s the least we could do.

While we probably won’t let him leave on a free transfer, a cut-rate deal certainly should be a possibility (or a loan, if he so chooses). It’s a similar situation to what Gary Cahill was dealing with last season, though he opted not to leave in January and just let his contract expire. Pedro hasn’t revealed what he may or may not be leaning towards, but he already knows that several teams may be interested.

One of those teams could very well be Aston Villa, as a the Telegraph reported yesterday. The Villans, where Pedro’s former Chelsea teammate John Terry is an assistant coach, are apparently “interested” in a “cut-price deal” for this January. If that’s something that appeals to Pedro, surely a mutually beneficial arrangement could be worked out.