Pedro: Of course I miss Barcelona

Chelsea winger Pedro insists he has no regrets over moving to Stamford Bridge, though he admits he does miss Barcelona.

The Spain international was signed by Jose Mourinho in August last year and made an explosive start to life in the Premier League, scoring on his debut in a 3-2 win over West Brom.

The 28-year-old endured a largely inconsistent campaign, however, hitting seven league goals in 29 games as Chelsea – having replaced Mourinho with Guus Hiddink following a dreadful first half of the season – missed out on Europe and failed to win a trophy.

Pedro admits he misses life at boyhood club Barca and concedes the past season has been a tough one, but he maintains he made the right decision to join Chelsea.

“It’s been a very strange year, for everyone,” he told Mundo Deportivo. 

“It was a very difficult situation. Imagine it – you arrive and it seems like everything’s going well, I got a goal on my debut, but then you start on a very negative dynamic. We put ourselves on a decline and then a lot of things changed from there.

“They sack the boss, a new one comes in, there is a lot of uncertainty. The players didn’t really know what to do, we all came together in the dressing room and we tried to pull together to go forward. In the end, we were able to shift the situation a little but we didn’t get back to where we wanted to be, where we should be.

“Of course I miss Barca. I had many years there, I felt very loved on the street. I’ve had the best moments of my career there and I really miss it. But I do not regret going [to Chelsea]. I’m very comfortable, it’s a great club.

“It’s been hard because a change is always tough for a player at the start. You start from scratch, in a new league, new team, new language, new culture. But my team-mates helped me a lot. We look forward to doing something big.”

Pedro was called up for Spain’s Euro 2016 campaign despite his mixed form for Chelsea, and he is now desperate to fire the country to a historic third successive win in the competition.

“It means a lot to me,” he said of his call-up from Vicente del Bosque. “It means the coach still has faith in me. After having a bad year, to come to the national team, you take a break, you focus on this tournament and on doing things well.

“The atmosphere is good, the squad is united. I’m raring to go.”