Louis van Gaal to blame for Pedro choosing Chelsea over Manchester United?

Dutchman prevaricated while Pedro said to be turned off by autocratic style

Louis Van Gaal (Getty images)

Manchester United lost out on Pedro to rivals Chelsea, who stole in with a late bid for the Barcelona winger.

The 28-year-old is to undergo a medical and will be unveiled by the Blues at some point on Thursday after a summer in which he was heavily tipped to Old Trafford; the Premier League champions are thought to have offered Barcelona €28m (£19.7m) plus €2m (£1.4m) add-ons for the player, while United’s offer was €25m (£17.6m) plus €5m (£3.5m) add-ons.

But as well as Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal dithering over the suitability of the winger in his squad - covered in excellent detail by Ian Herbert, Sam Wallace and Pete Jenson here - there are various reports that the Dutchman's style and heavy-handed treatment of some players turned Pedro off a move to Old Trafford.

Phonecalls from Jose Mourinho and former Barcelona team-mate Cesc Fabregas helped Pedro reach a decision, but the treatment of friend and former team-mate Victor Valdes apparently placed doubt in the mind of Pedro.

Valdes, who enjoyed a decorated career with Barcelona before a serious knee injury, joined Manchester United in January but has already been frozen out of the first-team by Van Gaal and will likely leave the club before the end of the window.

Cesc Fabregas (left) and Victor Valdes (right) are both said to have turned Pedro off of a move to Manchester United (Getty Images)

Van Gaal accused Valdes of refusing to play for the Under-21s, something the former Spain international strongly denied, while the goalkeeper's kit was moved out of the main dressing room at the Carrington training ground and into the secondary dressing room - a move that seemed petty for such a decorated player.

Reports in Spain also suggest that Pedro wanted to live in London rather than Manchester.