Barcelona news: Miralem Pjanic praises Gavi and Pedri

Pjanic joined Barca from Juventus in September 2020 but things didn’t pan out as expected and was sent on loan to Besiktas the next year.

Besiktas midfielder Miralem Pjanic; Credit: Twitter/@Miralem_Pjanic
By Sreejith C R | Apr 1, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Miralem Pajnic has been talking about his time at Barcelona and was full of praise for young midfielders Gavi and Pedri. The Bosnia and Herzegovina footballer joined Barca from Juventus in September 2020 but things didn’t pan out as expected and was soon sent on loan to Besiktas in 2021. He came to Camp Nou during the club’s most difficult time in history and to add to the problems, he could never get going with the head coach Ronald Koeman. 

Read more: Barcelona news: Sergio Busquets offers future advice to Ronald Araujo and Gavi

After a disastrous start to the 2021-22 season, Barca replaced Koeman with former player turned coach Xavi in November. The Spanish tactician has done a fabulous job so far to turn things around and the Blaugrana are now going through a successful rebuilding process. 

Pjanic said that Barca president Joan Laporta was right to replace Koeman with Xavi and revealed how impressed he was with youngsters Gavi and Pedri. 

“Koeman was disrespectful,” Pjanic told Gazzetta dello Sport as per Fabrizio Romano. “Laporta made a great decision with Xavi.”

The Blaugrana have won all of their last five league games, including a 4-0 thrashing of La Liga leaders Real Madrid. Xavi’s side is now placed third in the league standings with 54 points from 28 games, 12 points behind Real Madrid, who have played a game more. 

“Barcelona now look completely different.”

Pedri and Gavi have been the finds of the season. 19-year-old Pedri is often compared with former Barca legend Andres Iniesta because of his elegance, supreme ball control and body balance. 

On the other hand, 17-year-old Gavi made his international debut against Italy in the UEFA Nations League semi-final win against Italy in October and thereby became the youngest player to ever represent Spain at the senior level. Gavi has made 24 league appearances this campaign, scoring twice and registering four assists. 

“I love Pedri, he dances with the ball like Iniesta. The first time I saw Gavi in training I said: ‘Wow, this boy is gonna be special.’”

The former Juventus man’s loan spell with the Turkish club expires at the end of the season and the deal doesn’t include a purchase option. There has been talk about another loan spell with the Turkish side but Pjanic says he is keen to return to Italy. 

“Istanbul is so nice, except for the traffic, but I haven’t lost sight of Italy, it’s my second home,” he added. “I miss it and honestly, I’d be happy to return. Italy’s World Cup elimination hit me as I were Italian.”





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