Read: How Chelsea Pulled Off Dramatic Hijack Of Barcelona's Pedro And Left Manchester United Red-Faced

Chelsea's dramatic Pedro grab that has left rivals Manchester United red-faced was masterminded by manager Jose Mourinho, director Marina Granovskaia, Cesc Fabregas and the midfielder’s girlfriend Daniella Semaan.

Pedro is poised to complete a £22million move to Chelsea after flying to London on Wednesday to complete a medical, just two days after United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward had travelled to Barcelona to try to close a deal for the forward.

But while Woodward was haggling with Barcelona, Chelsea were putting ‘Operation Pedro’ into practice with Granovskaia conducting discreet negotiations with the Spanish club and, with the permission of Barca, Mourinho and Fabregas both speaking with the forward directly.

With Mourinho and Fabregas working on Pedro, Semaan made contact with the Spaniard’s wife, Carolina Martin, about moving to London. Fabregas is good friends with Pedro from their time together at Barcelona and the Spanish national team, while Semaan also knows Martin well.

Between them, Mourinho, Granovskaia, Fabregas and Semaan managed to clinch a deal with Barca and convince Pedro to forget about United and agree to move to Stamford Bridge.

By the time Woodward and United denied there had been problems over the fee and claimed that the club had ended their interest in Pedro because of doubts from manager Louis van Gaal, the 28-year-old was already on a flight to London to undergo his Blues medical.

Spanish sources also claim that United’s bid ran into trouble because of Van Gaal’s fall-out with Pedro’s former Barca team-mate Victor Valdes, who has been frozen out at Old Trafford.