It was August 2015 when Jose Mourinho signed Pedro from Barcelona. In December, the Portuguese was out of Stamford Bridge. The Spaniard stayed for five years, and signed with Roma in 2020. But the next year, Mourinho arrived in Rome, only to transfer Pedro immediately. In fact, he was so keen to get rid of his former player that he allowed him to go for free, even thou he had two more years on his contract and former Barcelona and Chelsea man signed for the arch-rivals Lazio! In fact, that was the first direct transfer between heated rivals since 1985. And even thou Sky Sport Italia reported that the pair had a conversation in which Mourinho explained to Pedro that he is no longer needed, the player himself told a different story. “The coach took the decision to send me away. The thing that disappointed me, is that i tried to speak to him to find out the motive, i wanted him to say it to my face and he didn’t want to.”🗣Pedro about Mourinho deciding to exclude him from the squad (ABC)#Pedro #Roma pic.twitter.com/urSiN67nvD— Calcio Report (@CalcioReport1) June 26, 2023 Speaking with Spanish ABC, Pedro explained that he didn’t even got the chance to speak with Mourinho face to face. “Mourinho took the decision to send me away, but what really let me down was that I tried to speak to him, to understand the reason. I wanted him to say it to my face, we are hardly children, but he didn’t want to. The club wouldn’t let me meet with him either, it was a bit strange. He was the one who wanted me at Chelsea. It’s true we had a bad season and he was fired at Christmas, but in those six months we never had problems. Instead, at Roma he made this decision” revealed Pedro. Lazio fans again condemned for anti-semitic chantsThe Spaniard didn’t dwell much, but rather went to the other part of Rome, and signed for Lazio, and then scored against Roma’s Mourinho in the 3-2 win the next season. “I accepted it. I did not cry, I did not die, I didn’t fall into depression. On the contrary, it made me stronger and allowed me to see another side of football. Now I have a club, Lazio, which is suited to me and what I am looking for” said Pedro, and he is right. During the last season, he played regularly, scored seven goals and six assists in 46 games and helped Lazio finish second in Serie A. Roman Derby’s “third halftime”: Mourinho clashes with Lazio’s president after the scarring defeatFormer Chelsea and Barcelona forward worked under two great coaches: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. And it’s needless to say which one he prefers more. “They are very different. Guardiola is the number one, he’s a perfectionist, whereas Mourinho has other methods. If I had to choose between them, there’s no question I would go with Pep. He’s the best coach I ever worked with, I learned to understand football from him, he made me grow as both a player and a person” said Pedro. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7336822##
