Pedri, the player they compare to Iniesta and wants to be champion with Spain in Qatar 2022

With just turned 20 at the time the Qatar World Cup 2022 In November, Spanish footballer Pedro González López, better known as Pedriprepares for the baptism in the World Cup in a Spanish team that is in search of its second world title (the first was reached in 2010 with a goal from one of its idols, Andres Iniesta).

Born on 25 November 2002 in the Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and raised in a passionate environment – both his grandfather and his father are Barcelona fans -. Pedri he began his career in the youth divisions of UD Tegueste, but was discarded after months for “short stature and weak physique”.

Despite being one of the young players with the most potential, he distinguished himself with the Golden boy in 2021the award for the best European under-21 footballer, the midfielder does not respond to the typical stereotypes of a young athlete who triumphs all over the world: social networks, nor the big clothing and technology brands, do not attract his attention.

After the short period at UD Tegueste, in 2015 he moved to Juventud Laguna, where he remained for three years and, thanks to his high performances and statistics, he captured the attention of the management UD Las Palmaswho signed it in 2018.

In the same year he also took a test to enter Real Madrid, despite the rejection of his relatives due to his fanaticism for the Barcelona-, but he failed to surprise the Merengue scouts, who decided not to hire him after several test matches.

In the youth of the palms It lasted just a year, since he made his professional football debut at the age of 16 in August 2019 in the defeat to SD Huesca. It took him just a month to convert his first goal, against Real Sporting de Gijón, which made him the youngest player to score a goal for the club.

“Every child dreams of Barça and Madrid, but playing in a team from their own land, the islands, makes you proud inside,” he said after his debut in the Second Division of the Spanish league.

Pedri’s transfer to Barcelona

Its good performance in the palms (37 games played, four goals and seven assists) caught the attention of the scoreboard of the FC Barcelonawho ended up hiring him for 5 million euros at the end of 2019.

His contract with the culé club was for two seasons, until the end of 2022, so he had to prove his qualities in the face of a complicated financial and sporting situation: the club had just been beaten 8-2 in a historic Champions League match. League against Bayern Munich.

The landing of the Dutch ronald koeman as technical director of Barcelona It allowed several young people who emerged in La Masia to reach the First Division. Given the poor performance of several midfielders, the coach made his official debut on 27 September in the victory against Villarreal for the Spanish league.

His scoring debut with the club he loved was marked by a win against Ferencváros, making him the third youngest player in Barcelona history to score in the Champions League.

He quickly became one of the mainstays of Koeman’s team and was even compared to Andres Iniesta, one of his childhood idols, for his style of play, his dribbles and his arrival on goal. In that season, Pedri He was the player who played the most games (52).

Months later, more precisely in April 2021, he won his first title with Barcelona after beating Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey final, the only conquest with Leone Messi. His high performance made the club move quickly to the signing of a new contract: he renewed the link with the Spanish club until June 2026 and It has the highest termination clause in history: 1,000 million euros.

That same season he stood out with the Golden Boya prize that is awarded to players under the age of 21 and is considered the “Golden Ball for the youngest”.

However, to the large number of games played with Barca was added his participation with National of Spainmaking him the player who has played the most games of the season in all leagues around the world.

This led to several early muscle injuries Xavi Hernandez as Barcelona manager and has missed more than 30 games. With him on the pitch, the Spanish team exceeded 80% effectiveness, while during his absence they failed to reach 45%.

Pedri in the Spanish national team

Although he has become world famous since his arrival in Barcelona, Pedri He also went through the youth teams of the National of Spainfrom his debut with U17 in 2019 to participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he won the silver medal after losing in the final against Brazil.

In May 2021, Luis Enrico called him up to play at Eurocopa 2020, where he made his debut with the major on his debut against Sweden, thus becoming the the youngest Spaniard to play in the European championship. Likewise, in that tournament he was chosen as the “Best Young Player” and was part of the “Best Team of the Tournament”.

At 1.74 meters, that little boy who was discarded for his short stature is one of the flagships of the substitute in Spain. And he will turn 20 in the middle of the competition, two days after the team’s debut against Costa Rica and two days before facing the toughest early stage match against Germany.