Barcelona president warns Manchester United Pedro is not for sale unless release clause is met

Barcelona's current president Josep Maria Bartomeu has warned Manchester United that their only chance of buying Pedro Rodriguez is if the player himself asks to leave and they meet his full release clause.

The 27-year-old forward's future at the Nou Camp has been under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks after the player admitted he could leave the club to get more playing time elsewhere.

Pedro confirmed he had received offers to move away from Barca this summer and revealed that the club had reduced his release clause after signing a new deal.

"It's true, we agreed to reduce the value of the buyout clause and it's true there are offers," the player said earlier in July, as quoted by Sky Sports.

The Telegraph reported last week that Louis van Gaal was ready to meet the£22m ($34m) release clause in order to to secure his fifth signing of the summer – following Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin.

Spanish newspaper AS later added that the Mancunians are at am advance stage in negotiations and could complete a deal by the end of the week for a fee of €24m plus a further €6 in add-ons.

But Bartomeu has now claimed that Barcelona are unlikely to part with any members of their squad, so United's only chance of claiming the player's services is to meet his full £22m release clause.

"We've made it clear. The team is complete, the idea was to have the squad that we have now and we're not expecting any departures. If someone wants to leave, they will have to tell us, because we have no information about anyone wanting to do so. We haven't had any offers," Bartomeu said as quoted by Marca.

"If someone leaves, it will be because the player asks to. We don't want anyone to go", Bartomeu reiterated.

And questioned whether then the only chance to cash-in with a player if is someone meets their release clause, he insisted: "The coach said as much very clearly the other day and we obviously feel the same way".

Luis Enrique had previously mentioned that if Pedro left he would be unable to sign a replacement until January due to a Fifa ban.

"I've said that if Pedro goes it will be when someone has paid his clause. If that doesn't happen, it will be difficult. I have spoken with Pedro. I told him what I think and he told me what he thinks. When the player makes a decision something will happen. The decision belongs to Pedro," Enrique recently was quoted as saying by Marca.

Indeed, Barcelona have signed both Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan during the summer transfer window but the former Sevilla and Atletico Madrid stars will not be able to play until next year.