Pedro (footballer, born July 1987)

Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma (born 28 July 1987), known as Pedro, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Serie A club Lazio. He is known for his pace, dribbling and ability to convert from counter chances.

Pedro scored 99 goals in 321 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona from 2008 to 2015, before joining Chelsea in 2015 where he scored 43 goals in 206 games and helped them win the Premier League in 2017, the FA Cup in 2018 and the UEFA Europa League in 2019. He joined the Serie A club Roma in 2020. He has won 26 major honours, including five La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League titles. During the 2009–10 season, he became the first player in history to score in every official club competition in a single season and in a single calendar year.

Pedro represented Spain in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships, winning the former in 2010 and the latter in 2012.

Club career

Early years

Born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Pedro started his career at local side San Isidro. In the 2003–04 season, he scored 35 goals for their ''Juvenil'' side, and also featured for the first team in Tercera División. At the age of 17, he joined Barcelona's youth team.

Barcelona

Pedro was a key player for Barcelona B, as the team achieved promotion from the fourth division, making 37 appearances and scoring seven goals. On 12 January 2008, he made his debut for the first team, playing one minute in a 4–0 home win against Real Murcia in La Liga, but would only amass four more in his only two games combined.

2008–10: Development and breakthrough

Pedro was a part of the first team's 2008–09 pre-season, and showed early promise, scoring against Hibernian and the New York Red Bulls respectively. On 13 August, he started in a 4–0 win against Wisła Kraków for the third qualifying round of the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League. His first match on the group stage of that competition was on 16 September, when he replaced Thierry Henry in a 3–1 home win over Sporting CP.

In Barcelona's treble-winning season in 2008–09, Pedro eventually totalled 14 matches, also appearing in La Liga against Racing Santander, Getafe, Valencia, Real Valladolid, Mallorca and Osasuna (0–1 home loss, with Barcelona already crowned champions), totalling 365 minutes. In the campaign's Copa del Rey, he played against Benidorm and Atlético Madrid, coming on for Lionel Messi on both occasions; in the 2–0 Champions League final win against Manchester United, he played the last minute in the place of Andrés Iniesta.

In 2009–10, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Pedro would be definitely promoted to Barcelona's first team, and he responded with a breakthrough year, during which he became the first player to score in every official club competition in a single season and also in a calendar year. On 16 August, after assisting Xavi with the first goal, he scored his first competitive goal for the first team in the 67th minute, helping to ensure a 2–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in San Mamés for the 2009 Supercopa de España. Later that week, he signed his professional contract, running until June 2014 with a buyout clause set at €75 million; in the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk, he came on as a substitute for Zlatan Ibrahimović in the 80th minute, and went on to net the only goal of the match in extra time.

On 28 September, Pedro scored his first goal in the Champions League, after replacing Iniesta at half-time in a 2–0 win against Dynamo Kyiv. He continued his hot streak and netted his first in the league, against Almería, with a brilliant strike that sealed the 1–0 home triumph; the following month he grabbed a brace in the first leg of the Copa del Rey round-of-32 match at Cultural Leonesa, for a 2–0 win (he also scored in the second leg, a 5–0 home rout).

More and more established in Barcelona's starting lineups, Pedro went on to score another brace in the league, in a 4–2 win against Mallorca. He would continue his scoring touch in the Champions League, netting one of two against Inter Milan.

On 16 December, Pedro scored a goal in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup against Atlante, in 3–1 win. In doing so, he became the first player ever to score in six different club competitions in a single season and in a single year – the three domestic competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He was later named World Player of the Week by Goal.com after his performances against Espanyol, Atlante and Estudiantes of Argentina, respectively.

In an emotional return to his hometown team of Tenerife, on 10 January 2010, Pedro came on as a 76th-minute substitute, later helping to Ezequiel Luna's own goal in a 5–0 win – out of respect, he chose not to celebrate. On 10 April, he netted the second goal in a 2–0 win against Real Madrid, in his first appearance in ''El Clásico''.

On 14 April, in a league match against Deportivo La Coruña, opposing goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia attempted to clear the ball from the top of the 16-yard box, and instead kicked the ball right to Pedro, who shot at goal from 40 yards with his left foot and scored, giving ''Barça'' a 2–0 lead in an eventual 3–0 win. He also found the net in a 3–1 defeat in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, against Inter Milan at the San Siro.

In the last three league matches, Pedro scored for Barcelona, with the Catalans eventually renewing their league supremacy: against Tenerife again (4–1 win), the 3–2 winner at Sevilla and against Valladolid (4–0). He completed the 2009–10 season with 53 appearances in all competitions and 23 goals, and, on 9 June, signed a new five-year deal with Barcelona.

2010–14: Consistent collective success

Pedro began the 2010–11 campaign firmly established in Barcelona's starting XI. On 29 November 2010, he scored the second goal in the famous 5–0 home win against Real Madrid, with ''Barça'' climbing to the first position in the league. The following month, he netted twice at Espanyol in the local derby, in a 5–1 success.

On 20 April 2011, Pedro scored against Real Madrid in the second half of final, but his goal was disallowed for offside, in an eventual 0–1 extra time loss. On 3 May, against the same opponent, in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg, he found Iker Casillas' net in a 1–1 home draw (3–1 aggregate win), for his 21st official goal of the campaign; in the Champions League final, he opened the score against Manchester United, in an eventual 3–1 win.

On 5 July 2011, Pedro extended his contract by one year, until 2016. His buyout clause was raised from €90m to €150m. After the purchase of Alexis Sánchez, he featured less during 2011–12, he did finish the season with 13 official goals, scoring a brace in that season's Copa del Rey final, a 3–0 win against Athletic Bilbao.

On 21 September 2013, Pedro scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory at Rayo Vallecano. On 22 December, in another away fixture, he added another three – all in the first half and in only nine minutes – to help Barcelona come back from 0–2 behind and eventually win 5–2 over Getafe, thus becoming the player to score the fastest ever hat-trick in Barcelona history.

2014–15: Treble and final season

On 16 December 2014, Pedro scored another hat-trick, this time in second leg of Round of 32 in Copa del Rey against Huesca, with Barcelona who recorded an 8–1 victory at Camp Nou.

On 4 June 2015, Barcelona's official website announced that Pedro had renewed his contract until 30 June 2019. His buyout clause would remain at €150 million.

On 6 June 2015, Pedro appeared as an added-time substitute for ''Barça'' in the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, as the club won its fifth European Cup/Champions League title by beating Juventus 3–1 at Berlin's Olympiastadion. This made Barcelona the first club in history to win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup twice. Pedro, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves are the only players to have been a part of both treble-winning teams.

As an extra-time substitute, Pedro scored the winning goal as Barcelona won the 2015 UEFA Super Cup 5–4 against Sevilla in Tbilisi; it was his second winner in a Super Cup, and came in the 115th minute like its predecessor.

Chelsea

2015–16: Debut season

On 20 August 2015, Pedro joined Premier League champions Chelsea on a four-year contract for £19 million (€26.6M), potentially rising to £21.4 million (€30M) depending on performances. Three days after signing, he made his debut away to West Bromwich Albion, scoring the first goal of a 3–2 win, Chelsea's first victory of their season, and provided an assist for the second goal, scored by his international teammate Diego Costa. On 19 December, Pedro scored the second goal in a 3–1 win against Sunderland, his first at Stamford Bridge. On 13 February, Pedro scored a brace in a 5–1 victory over Newcastle United, and again on 2 April in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa.

2016–18: League and UEFA Europa League wins

On 1 July 2016, it was announced that Pedro would switch to the number 11 shirt at Chelsea, vacated by the loan expiration of Alexandre Pato. On 20 August 2016, Pedro made his first start of the season in an away match against Watford, after it was announced that Willian was out with an injury. Pedro then came off the bench to get an assist for Victor Moses in a 3–0 win over Burnley on 27 August. On 23 October 2016, Pedro scored the fastest goal of the season as in the first 30 seconds, he scored the opener of a 4–0 victory over Manchester United. He also defended Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, who was reportedly accused by Manchester United manager José Mourinho of trying to humiliate United with his actions on the touchline in the closing stages of the game. On 5 November 2016, Pedro scored the last goal and assisted two others in a 5–0 drubbing of Everton at Stamford Bridge. On 26 November 2016, Pedro scored the equaliser for Chelsea right before half-time in a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. The goal eventually won Premier League Goal of the Month for November.

On 11 August 2018, he scored his first league goal of the season in a 3–0 win at Huddersfield Town. On his 150th Chelsea appearance, Pedro scored the club's 1000th Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge, opening the scoring in a 2–0 win against West London rival Fulham. He netted a brace and had a hand in two more to help the Blues through to the Europa League semi-finals at the expense of Slavia Prague at Stamford Bridge on 18 April. Chelsea won 4–3 on the night and 5–3 on aggregate. On 29 May, Pedro scored in Chelsea's 4–1 win over Arsenal in the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League final; as a result, he became the fifth player to score in a European Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League final, after Allan Simonsen, Dmitri Alenichev, Hernán Crespo, and Steven Gerrard.

His goal in the Europa League final, meant that it was his 9th goal in a final in his career, putting him 7th in the all time list for top goal scorers in finals. It also means he has more finals goals than ex-teammate Neymar.

2019–20: Final season and departure

On 8 March 2020, Pedro scored his first league goal of the season in the win over Everton. He had been scoreless in the Premier League for more than a year, with the previous goal dated back to 27 February 2019.

On 26 July 2020, Frank Lampard confirmed Pedro would leave Chelsea after the FA Cup Final and Champions League fixtures. He also announced his departure from the club on Twitter.

Roma

On 25 August 2020, Serie A club Roma announced the signing of Pedro on a three-year contract. He made his debut for the ''Giallorossi'' on 19 September, playing his first Serie A match against Verona. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 October in a 1–0 victory over Udinese. After a strong start, his performances worsened due to several injuries and a conflict with manager Paulo Fonseca. Nevertheless, in the final matchday of the season he scored in a 2–0 win in the ''Derby della Capitale'' against Lazio on 15 May 2021.

Lazio

On 19 August 2021, Pedro joined Roma's arch-rivals, Lazio on a two-year deal after having been omitted from new Roma manager José Mourinho's squad for all of their pre-season fixtures. He became the first player since goalkeeper Astutillo Malgioglio in 1985 to move directly between the two clubs. On 21 August, he made his Lazio debut in a 3–1 win against Empoli. He scored his first goal for Lazio against Roma on 26 September, becoming only the third player to score for both clubs in the Derby della Capitale.

Pedro came on against Inter Milan in the 58th minute on the 26th of August 2022, and got a goal and an assist to inspire a Lazio comeback.

International career

On 20 May 2010, Pedro was included by Vicente del Bosque in Spain's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Nine days later, he made his debut in a 3–2 friendly win against Saudi Arabia, replacing David Silva for the final 30 minutes in Innsbruck, Austria. On 8 June, in the last exhibition game prior to the finals in South Africa, with Poland, Pedro scored his first international goal, and also assisted Fernando Torres in a 6–0 victory at Murcia's Estadio Nueva Condomina.

In the final stages, he appeared in five matches (three as a late substitute): on 7 July, in the semi-final against Germany, he started in place of Torres, who had been performing poorly in earlier matches. In the 82nd minute, with Spain leading 1–0, he attempted to score a goal himself rather than set up an unmarked Torres, although he performed well in the game. Despite this error, he was selected to start in the final, with the national team winning 1–0 against the Netherlands; at the hour-mark, he was replaced by Jesús Navas.

Pedro was part of the Spanish squad which successfully defended their continental crown at UEFA Euro 2012, coming on as a substitute in each of their knockout round matches, including the final where he replaced Silva in the 59th minute of an eventual 4–0 win over Italy.

Pedro scored the first hat-trick of his professional career on 12 October 2012, netting after a Jordi Alba strike in an eventual 4–0 away win over Belarus for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

Style of play

A quick, versatile, and intelligent two-footed forward, Pedro usually plays as a left winger, although he is capable of playing on either flank, as well as in several other positions in both attack and midfield; he has often been used on the right flank with the Spanish national team. A nimble and diminutive player, he is known for his pace, balance, technique, dribbling skills, and defensive work-rate, as well as his ability both to score and create goals, courtesy of his finishing ability, passing, crossing, and link-up play. Moreover, he is known for his ability to make runs in behind the opposing defence from the flank or drive forward, which makes him an attacking threat on counter-attacks.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Pedro goal.''

Honours

Barcelona B
*Tercera División: 2007–08

Barcelona
*La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15
*Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15
*Supercopa de España: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
*UEFA Champions League: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
*UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
*FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011

Chelsea
*Premier League: 2016–17
*FA Cup: 2017–18
*UEFA Europa League: 2018–19

Spain
*FIFA World Cup: 2010
*UEFA European Championship: 2012

Individual
* La Liga's Breakthrough Player: 2009–10
*Premier League Goal of the Month: November 2016, April 2017
*UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19
Records:

*First player to score in 6 major competitions in one season
*First player to win 2 Premier League Goal of the Month awards in one Premier League season
*Only player to have scored in the Champions League, Europa League, Club World Cup and Super Cup finals
*Only player to have scored in a Champions League, Europa League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, SuperCopa Espana and Copa Del Rey final
*Only player to have won the Champions League, Europa League, World Cup, European Championship and Premier League.
*Fastest ever Barcelona hattrick in an away game

Notes

References

External links

*
*

Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website
*


at BDFutbol
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedro
1987 births
Living people
Footballers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Spanish footballers
Association football wingers
Association football forwards
FC Barcelona C players
FC Barcelona Atlètic players
FC Barcelona players
Chelsea F.C. players
A.S. Roma players
S.S. Lazio players
Tercera División players
Segunda División B players
La Liga players
Premier League players
Serie A players
FA Cup Final players
UEFA Champions League winning players
UEFA Europa League winning players
Spain under-21 international footballers
Spain international footballers
2010 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2012 players
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players
2014 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
Spanish expatriate footballers
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England
Expatriate footballers in England
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Italy