The 19-year-old has already established himself as a regular starter in both the national team and the Blaugrana.
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Spanish football has been known to produce some of the best midfielders in world football in the last decade or so and Pedri is the latest one in the list. Barcelona’s dream team of 2010 which won every available title had two of the best creative midfielders the world had ever seen, Xavi and Andres Iniesta. The duo played a pivotal role in Spain’s European championship (2008, 2012) and World Cup(2010) triumph. The likes of David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla were some of the highly talented midfielders of that generation.
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? More awards for @alexiaputellas and @Pedri ?https://t.co/Dk4HuenBH3
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 1, 2022
Spain continues to produce midfielders with flair, skill and technical ability, Barcelona’s Pedri is the latest one in that list. He is touted to be the next big thing in Spanish football. The 19-year-old has already established himself as a regular starter in both the national team and the Blaugrana.
Born in Tenerife, Pedri joined Las Palmas’ academy from Juventud Laguna in 2018 and within a year got promoted to the first team. He made his professional debut at the age of 16 on August 18, 2019, starting in a home defeat against Huesca.
Two weeks later, Barcelona completed a deal to sign the Spaniard on a two-year deal, paying an initial fee of EUR 5 million as well as other performance-based objectives. Meanwhile before he had even played a match for the Catalan club, Bayern Munich were willing to pay a hefty price to get Pedri, but Barca refused their attempts and held on to the highly talented footballer.
Pedri quickly established himself as a key player under Barca manager Ronald Koeman before playing a key role in Spain’s impressive run to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 last year.
Despite being just 18-year-old, he made a total of 44 appearances for both club and country in the 2020-21 season and that took a toll on his body and the youngster missed the first few months of this campaign with injuries. And he returned to the playing field on January 23 after five months on the sidelines.
Xavi has taken over from Koeman and Pedri took his game to another level under the legendary playmaker. Barca are currently going through their best form of the campaign, having won their last five league games, including a 4-0 thrashing of La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
Since Pedri’s return from injury, the Blaugrana have drawn once and won seven games in the league and overcame Napoli and Galatasaray to book a place in the quarter-finals of Europa League. Barca are currently third in the league standings and can move to second spot with a win against Sevilla on Sunday.
Pedri has played a key role in Barca’s rejuvenation and he along with Sergi Busquets and Frenkie de Jong form Barca’s midfield-trio. Barca’s midfield has a perfect blend of experience and youthful exuberance with 33-year-old Busquets marshalling them and De Jong (24) providing the versatility and work rate.
He is often compared with Iniesta for his supreme ball control, dribbling skills and ability to link-up with forwards and get into goal-scoring positions. His solo goal against Galatasaray in the Europa League fixture at Istanbul was a testament to the immense potential the youngster possesses.
Pedri is surely one for the future who has all the ingredients to succeed at the top level. Although there is competition from Gavi and Nico Gonzalez and soon-to-be Barca signing Franck Kessie, he remains a pivotal figure during the club’s rebuilding process and for the long-term fortunes.
