Spain and Spanish football has a long history of producing some of the best players in eh world – but they have just one player nominated for this year’s “Kopa” prize for the best player under 21 of the last year.
Pedri – an obvious choice – broke through for Barcelona and then for Spain in the same year. His incredible ability and precocious maturity make him perhaps the player with most potential on the whole list, and that’s no mean feat.
However, it is a little concerning that there is only 1 of 10 produced by Spanish academies and playing for a Spanish club. Ten years ago, it would have been 2 or 3 at least.
It’s a sign of the shifting power of leagues, with La Liga starting to fall back to the pack.
On the other hand – if you’re going to be represented by any single player, it may as well be one as brilliant as Pedri.