Barcelona begin 'Operation Pedri'

20 Aug 2021 05:41 CDT
6 min read

The Barcelona player who has surprised me the most is Pedri, says Koeman — © ProShots

Following the departure of Lionel Messi, Barcelona must now rely on other players for success.

One of those players at the moment and undoubtedly in the future is Spanish wonderkid Pedri, who has emerged as perhaps the best teenager in world football over the past year.

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Basically, nobody in Europe has played as much football as the 18-year-old over the past 12 months, as he has featured for Barcelona in La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and for Spain in qualification matches, the European Championship and finally the Olympic Games.

Pedri is recognised as the future of Barcelona, and with that in mind, the Blaugrana have become extremely keen to tie him down for as long as possible with a new contract.

His current deal, worryingly, runs out next summer, but the club are hopeful that they can convince him to sign a new five-year deal until 2026.

The youngster currently earns around €40,000 per week in Catalunya, and when you consider the likes of Antoine Griezmann is on €700,000, Pedri is well within his rights to expect more when you consider his fantastic contribution to the team despite his young age.

Barcelona are already on the cusp of losing another exciting young player in Ilaix Moriba, who could be sold for as little as €15m this summer after he refused to sign a new contract.

Though Pedri is not a La Masia graduate, he is viewed as a homegrown player to take the club forward into this next decade.

The priority for Barcelona within the next couple of weeks is to try and get rid of high-earning players like Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti, but as soon as the transfer window shuts on 1 September, Pedri's renewal will be on the agenda.

How good is Pedri?

Former Real Betis and West Brom coach Pepe Mel can be credited as the first professional coach who saw Pedri's obvious talent, awarding him a four-year contract at Las Palmas at the age of 16.

For him to be the national team’s best player at Euro 2020 just two years later should never simply be accepted as something that happens. It doesn’t. Players like Pedri don’t appear on the landscape all often, but when they do, they come ‘ready’.

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For Barcelona to pick him up for an initial fee of €6m (including add-ons it could be triple that) feels like a hedged bet from their perspective, but he had enthralled arriving coach Ronald Koeman after just a single training session.

Soon after, when asked if Pedri reminded him of Xavi or Andres Iniesta, he said simply: “Yes, but where were Xavi and Iniesta at his age?”

Spain team-mate Alvaro Moratae added in a matter-of-fact fashion:

“You see Pedri, he plays and seems to be 40 years old.

“There are people and players who need a long time to manage emotions, manage pressure and become strong in some things and there are others who take it as standard.

“You cannot buy that, you can improve over time. The personality and attitude you have... there are few who have it. Hopefully, he will be lucky with the injuries because he will undoubtedly be one of the best players in the history of Spain.”