Pedro Rodriguez hasn’t had it easy at Barcelona. Youth team products at all clubs are often under more scrutiny than players imported from elsewhere and that’s particularly the case at an institution that prides itself on its cantera. Supporters see the starlet make their first steps in the seniors but unless development is rapid and spectacular, that familiarity can breed contempt.

It’s to Pedro’s great credit that he has stuck it out at Camp Nou. After scoring against Cordoba he is closing in on 100 goals for La Blaugrana and will pass 300 appearances for Barca this season. Pedro could have gone the way of Bojan Krkic but instead he has become a stalwart under a succession of Coaches, racking up figures that Cesc Fabregas could only have aspired to in his aborted spell at the club.

Pedro has more than just the pressure of expectation to contend with. Barca keep signing players in his position, forwards arriving summer after summer despite his reliable contributions and the pressing need for additions elsewhere. It was Neymar last year and Luis Suarez this and despite the Uruguayan’s struggles, he has largely kept Pedro out of the team. It’s only because Neymar wasn’t ready to return after an ankle injury that Pedro started against Los Califas.

That’s despite a Copa del Rey hat-trick in midweek, and while it does carry an asterisk as it was against part-timers Huesca, the style and verve with which Pedro played should have made Luis Enrique sit up and take notice. Rumours persist that Pedro is wanted by teams in the Premier League in what, should he leave in January or next summer, would be a familiar tale, most recently told by Alexis Sanchez’s move to Arsenal.

There are also echoes of the Martin Montoya situation, the home-grown player pegged as little more than an alternate and allowed to grow frustrated at their lack of minutes. Suarez can still come good and his first League goal was an important milestone in his Barca career, but Pedro can’t be overlooked as Montoya has been for Dani Alves. If Pedro is left to feel ignored and unappreciated, he will have no shortage of suitors when the stand-off comes to a head.

Pedro’s name was sung around Camp Nou on Saturday and for a player who hasn’t always been in the good graces of the Barca faithful, that’s a big step. If he can win over even the hard-to-please regulars, perhaps he can do anything. Pedro’s name doesn’t come with the same cache as that of Neymar or Suarez but he does deliver the goals in similar quantities. All being well, in 2015 he’ll reach three figures for his club career, a feat that should be applauded.

At 27, Pedro still has peak years ahead and it’s imperative they’re spent at Barca. He has said he has no plans to leave but Montoya signed a long-term deal and now can’t wait to get out, shunned to the end of his tether. It may take more crucial goals but Pedro is doing everything within his power to force Enrique’s hand as another La Masia kid made good.

La Liga - Club News