Suddenly in-demand Pedro gets call from AS Roma — report

Like London buses, Pedro rumors come along together in numbers, or not at all. After sitting on the sidelines of the transfer window for the first four weeks, just as he’s been doing for Chelsea all season, the veteran winger has been linked with moves to J1 League’s Vissel Kobe and now, to Serie A’s AS Roma.

Roma, who were already tangentially involved in the Olivier Giroud-to-Inter rumors, continue to look for emergency attacking help after the move for Inter’s Matteo Politano fell through at the eleventh hour. (Politano’s now bound for Napoli, which should finally unlock the Giroud bit as well.)

But back to Rome, where the long-term injury to Nicolò Zaniolo has caused a fair amount of consternation and transfer scrambling. Things have gotten dire enough that even Stephan El Shaarawy’s name has been mentioned, just six months after he left for Shanghai. A perhaps more likely option could be Chelsea’s Pedro, and according to Sky Italia (via Football Italia), the Giallorossi have made enquiries with Chelsea regarding his availability.

The report doesn’t say what Chelsea’s response may or may not have been, but they claim that the 32-year-old “should be available for relatively little” due to his expiring contract and aforementioned peripheral involvement in the team. While Lampard says he needs Pedro as a contingency plan, Pedro himself might prefer to stop sitting and waiting for the next bus to arrive in the summer.