Pedro starts in Super Cup despite transfer talk

Pedro Rodriguez was named in coach Luis Enrique's Barcelona starting line-up for the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao despite appearing on the verge of a move to the English Premier League.

Pedro came off the bench to rescue Barca in a remarkable 5-4 win over Sevilla after extra time in the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday after the European champions had blown a 4-1 lead.

The 28-year-old said he didn't know if that would be his last game for the club and criticised the club's technical secretary Robert Fernandez for claiming he had asked to leave.

Manchester United have been strongly linked with a move for the winger in recent weeks, but reports in England on Friday suggested Manchester City could try to beat their rivals to Pedro's signature.

Enrique makes five changes in all from the side that started the energy sapping trip to Tbilisi with Adriano, Thomas Vermaelen, Marc Bartra and Sergi Roberto also coming into the side at the expense of Jeremy Mathieu, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta.
Source: AFP