{"id":8893,"date":"2026-05-15T19:16:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=8893"},"modified":"2026-05-15T19:16:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:16:46","slug":"barcelonas-deco-steps-up-joao-pedro-transfer-pursuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=8893","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona&#8217;s Deco steps up Joao Pedro transfer pursuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Barcelona are reportedly stepping up their pursuit of Chelsea striker Joao Pedro as Deco is in London to watch the Blues ace in the FA Cup final.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pedro has been in fine form since joining Chelsea from Brighton last summer, announcing himself in that memorable Club World Cup victory before going to net a further 20 goals in all competitions this season.<\/p>\n<p>The Brazil international\u2019s form has attracted strong interest from Barca, and it now seems Deco is stepping things up by travelling to London to get a closer look at him at Wembley this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>See below for details from Sport journalist Carlos Monfort\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-lazy tweet-qt lazyload\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">? EXCLUSIVE <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@sport<\/a> ?<\/p>\n<p>Deco travels to London to meet with Jo\u00e3o Pedro&#8217;s agents!<\/p>\n<p>The Bar\u00e7a sports director has traveled to the British capital and tomorrow he will spy on the Brazilian in the FA Cup final at Wembley.<\/p>\n<p>He likes it a lot in the club.<\/p>\n<p>+ info ?https:\/\/t.co\/UaAOf3tduB<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Carlos Monfort (@monfortcarlos) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/monfortcarlos\/status\/2055281753011454239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>His X post translates as: \u201cDeco travels to London to meet with Jo\u00e3o Pedro\u2019s agents! The blaugrana sporting director has traveled (sic) to the British capital and tomorrow will scout the Brazilian at Wembley in the FA Cup final. He is very much liked at the club.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CAUGHTOFFSIDE APP FOR ALL THE LATEST &#038; BREAKING UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON <span role=\"presentation\"><u>APPLE<\/u><\/span> &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>GOOGLE PLAY<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Joao Pedro to Barcelona transfer timeline<\/h2>\n<p>This story isn\u2019t going away, and here\u2019s a summary of how it\u2019s developed so far\u2026<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Want more CaughtOffside coverage? Add us as a <\/i><\/b><b><i><span draggable=\"true\">preferred source on Google<\/span><\/i><\/b><b><i>  to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Should Joao Pedro leave Chelsea for Barcelona?<\/h2>\n<p>Pedro clearly has plenty of quality and he looks like he has a great career ahead of him, so he won\u2019t want to waste that at a club that\u2019s not playing in Europe or competing for major trophies.<\/p>\n<p>The sad reality for Chelsea right now is that\u2019s how they\u2019re going to increasingly be perceived after a chaotic few years under this ownership.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-stories std-mgn-b\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<header class=\"col-s-12 std-mgn-t\">More Stories \/ <span class=\"topic\">Latest News<\/span><\/header>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1495\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-14-1.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1659213 lazyload\" alt=\"Robin Roefs in action for Sunderland\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-14-1-190x114.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-14-1-245x147.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-14-1-320x193.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-14-1-414x249.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-14-1-630x379.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1495\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13-1.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1659211 lazyload\" alt=\"Gabriel Martinelli replaces Eberechi Eze as a substitute during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle at Emirates Stadium\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13-1-190x114.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13-1-245x147.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13-1-320x193.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13-1-414x249.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13-1-630x379.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1495\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-12-1.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1659209 lazyload\" alt=\"Xabi Alonso looks set for the Chelsea job\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-12-1-190x114.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-12-1-245x147.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-12-1-320x193.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-12-1-414x249.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-12-1-630x379.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<p>Pedro only joined a year ago, so might be willing to give the CFC project some more time, but it also won\u2019t be easy for him to turn down Barcelona if they really push for this deal.<\/p>\n<p>The Catalan giants urgently need a top signing up front this summer as veteran front-man Robert Lewandowski is coming towards the end of his contract.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barcelona are reportedly stepping up their pursuit of Chelsea striker Joao Pedro as Deco is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}