The 18-year-old Spaniard who is enjoying an excellent first
season at Barcelona grew up absorbing all the Iniesta he could find, watching
games at the fan club founded by his grandfather back home on the island of
Tenerife and reliving his idol’s most awesome moments on the Internet.
“I always loved Iniesta and his way of playing soccer,
because of how he was both on and off the field,” Pedri told The Associated
Press in a recent video call. “He has been my reference and I have tried to
model myself on him.”
The resemblance in playing style as well as demeanor is
uncanny. Like Iniesta, Pedri is silky smooth with the ball on his feet, with
his dribbling and passing in tight spaces. He also shares the Spain great’s
coolness under pressure and transmits a similar calm when making split-second
decisions with the ball.
His non-soccer life is, like Iniesta, centered on his
family; he said when his parents make the trip from the Canary Islands to visit
him and his older brother in Barcelona they like to play board games.
Pedri has scored three goals this season, but it is his
passing and footwork with the ball that has set him apart. Twice this season,
Pedri has produced no-look flicks with the back of his heel to roll the ball
behind to set up Lionel Messi for goals. Those moments of majesty instantly
draw comparisons to Iniesta, who sent Pedri a message encouraging him to keep
working hard when he joined the club.
“The truth is that something must have stuck,” Pedri said.
“I think I have seen all the videos of (Iniesta) on YouTube. I never missed a
game of his, so I guess some of it wears off.
“Maybe that is something I learned from Andrés, but the
truth is that these are things that just happen on the field. If suddenly you
hear Leo, you know you have give him the ball because he will create danger and
end up scoring like always.”
Impressed by the poise of his teenage teammate, striker
Martin Braithwaite described Pedri as “a veteran player in the body of a young
player.”
For Pedri, it’s just the way he has always played.
“From since I was little I have had this sense of calm, and
I always played like that as a boy in Tegueste (his home town), so why would I
change at Camp Nou?” Pedri said.
Pedri has been the biggest signing success for a club that
has spent about 430 million euros ($512 million) to sign Philippe Coutinho,
Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele in recent years, only to see them not
play like top players. During that stretch, Barcelona missed out on other young
Spanish talents like Marco Asensio, whose agent had reportedly been in talks
with Barcelona until Real Madrid swept in and signed him.
Compared to those gargantuan transfers, Pedri was a complete
steal. He cost Barcelona 5 million euros ($6.1 million) in 2019 when he was
breaking out for lower-division club Las Palmas on the Canary Islands. Pedri
remained on loan at Las Palmas last season before moving to Barcelona with his
older brother acting as his chaperone and roommate.
Pedri credits coach Ronald Koeman for his frankness when
spoke shortly after they both arrived at Barcelona last year.
“One day he pulled me aside and told me that he did not know
much about me, that he had barely seen me play, and that I would have to show
him what I can do in practice,” Pedri recalled. “I drew motivation from that. I
knew that I had to work as hard as anyone to win my spot.”
Koeman must have immediately liked what he saw from Pedri.
While the Dutchman has toyed with his starting lineup, Pedri is the one
newcomer that the coach won’t do without.
Pedri leads Barcelona in appearances. Koeman tried him in
all midfield and attacking positions except striker until he opted to align him
alongside Frenkie de Jong in the interior of his midfield.
“Pedri is showing a level of maturity beyond his years,”
Koeman said after Pedri scored one goal and assisted Messi for another in a 3-2
win at Athletic Bilbao on Jan. 6.
Pedri’s on-field chemistry with Messi has many Barcelona
fans hoping that he might help convince the Argentine great to stay at the club
he is considering leaving after 20 title-packed years. Pedri, however, said
that although he hopes Messi won’t leave, it is enough to play with and learn
from the club’s all-time greatest player.
“(Messi) gives very valuable advice, on how you have to
remained focused, on how to play in the spaces between the defensive and
midfield lines,” Pedri said. “On whether he stays or goes, I don’t get involved
in that. That is his decision and the only thing we can do is to help him while
he is here, and hope that is for many years to come.” -