Even before leaving the Netherlands in the lurch for his dream job at Camp Nou, Ronald Koeman knew Pedri was a player of rare potential.
“There’s one, his name is Pedri, signed from Las Palmas,” Koeman said in a documentary that focuses on events before the Dutchman replaced Quique Setien in August.
“They say he must be the new (Michael) Laudrup, the new Iniesta. We’ll see. He’s the greatest talent in all of Spain.”
And you’d imagine, after spending the past six months watching Pedri strut his stuff, Koeman won’t have changed his mind over Barcelona’s 18-year-old superkid.
The lad from the Canary Islands has shone like a Belisha beacon this season, cutting through the gloom hanging over the Catalonian Kings.
Marca described Pedri as the “signing of the decade” after a virtuoso performance in October’s 2-0 Champions League win at Juventus.
And, less than two years after Barca pipped Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid and more to a bargain £3.5 million deal, the diminutive playmaker is now worth a staggering £350 million, thanks to a clause inserted in his contract in November (Mundo Deportivo).
While it’s tempting to label any fresh-faced midfielder with an eye for a pass as ‘Iniesta’s heir’, Pedri is doing justice to those comparisons.
“It is clear Pedri has a lot of potential,” Iniesta, the 2010 World Cup winner and four-time European champion, tells Mundo Deportivo.
“I believe he is in an ideal place to continue growing, to continue exploiting his potential. I wish him the best and the important thing is he is calm, that people also leave him alone, because he is young and has everything ahead of him.
“I am convinced (in him). I think the difference is that, when goes out on to the field, he enjoys the ball and he doesn’t seem to be 18.
“He surely has a great future at Barca.”
If the present looks bleak for Koeman’s inconsistent, debt-ridden Barcelona side, Pedri at least gives the disenchanted Cules something to look forward to as the post-Messi era edges ever closer.
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