Pedri has become one of the most exciting footballers in the European game. The 19-year-old from the Canary Islands broke into Barcelona and La Roja’s first-team last season and has since become absolutely pivotal to both sides; he’s a unique talent.
An intelligent midfielder, Pedri plays the game with cold blood and remarkably maturity. He played a full La Liga season for Barcelona last term before going to Euro 2020 with Spain and then the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Such a build-up of minutes in his teenage legs meant that he missed the start of this season through injury but he’s since recovered and reminded everyone just how good he is.
Gavi and Nico Gonzalez, two of his Barcelona teammates, are also exciting prospects, but Pedri is more than that. He doesn’t merely have the potential to be world-class; he absolutely already is. And he has well over a decade of football ahead of him.
A good example of his quality and coolness of head came during Barcelona’s Europa League tie with Galatasaray last month. Pedri scored a crucial goal after pausing to dumbfound several opposing defenders. It was a remarkable moment in a pivotal game.
“I saw it on TikTok,” Pedri recounted as carried by Marca. “Ferran [Torres] gave it to me and I saw that Marcao was coming so I didn’t touch the ball. I thought he was going to take it from me but he went to ground incorrectly and missed me, and when I went to shoot I saw another challenge that came in so I shot low.
“If there was another challenge I would have kept going until I found the space. The truth is that it was a good goal. I think it’s the best one I’ve scored so far. But I hope better goals come.”
