Top 10 Incredible Facts about Pedri

Pedri González, FCBarcelona player by ENRIQUE CORBELLA –Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Incredible Facts about Pedri

Pedri, known in full as Pedro González López is a Spanish professional footballer. He is currently Barcelona’s midfield maestro and by the looks of it, he will be for several years to come.

Pedri’s emergence in the 2020/21 season represented not only one of the most significant positives of such a difficult time for one of the top teams in the world but also one of their greatest reasons for hope.

Pedri’s talent is undeniable even to Barcelona’s biggest rivals. He has established himself as a first-team regular at Barcelona. This is thanks to his top performances and consistency. A proper professional by any measure despite his young age.

Below are some interesting facts about generational talent, Pedri.

1. Started Out as A Centre-Back

Pedri was born in Bajamar, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain on 25th November 2002. At age 3, his family moved from Bajamar to Tegueste not far away. It is in Tegueste that Pedri was raised.

At the age of 6, Pedri enrolled in the UD Tegueste’s academy of his hometown club to begin his amateur career. At Tegueste, Pedri started out as a center-back before moving to midfield after evaluation. He relocated to Juventud Laguna in 2015 while he was a teenager.

2. Moved To Las Palmas in 2018

Pedri played at Juventud Laguna for 3 years, from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, he moved to Las Palmas’s youth academy where his career really took off.

After joining, Pedri was used in youth squads until July 2019. On 15th July 2019, Pedri signed his first professional contract with Las Palmas at 16 years of age.

Pedri’s new contract was a 4-year deal that saw him get promoted to Las Palmas’s first team by manager Pepe Mel.

3. Youngest Goal Scorer in the history of UD Las Palmas

Pedro González López, September 2019 by Nokia621 – Wikimedia Commons

A month after signing his first professional contract, Pedri made his senior debut on 18th August 2019 at age 16. This was in a 1-0 loss at home to Huesca in Spain’s Segunda division.

Another month later, Pedri made history at UD Las Palmas. He scored his first senior professional goal against Sporting Gijon. The goal was the match-winning one in a 1-0 home victory.

At 16 years, 9 months, and 23 days of age, Pedri became Las Palmas’ youngest goal scorer in the history of the club. In his debut season, Pedri had the most appearances for outfield players at Las Palmas in the 2019/20 season.

He put in high-quality performances throughout the season and ended with 4 goals and 5 assists in 37 games. Considering his age, it was not a surprise that big clubs took note. Among them was Barcelona.

4. Joined Barcelona for €5 Million

Barcelona and Las Palmas came to an agreement on the transfer of Pedri on September 2, 2019. Pedri remained at Las Palmas for the 2019/20 season and the transfer took effect on July 1st, 2020.

The midfielder signed a two-year contract with the Catalan club for €5 million. There were add-on clauses added to the contract with the price rising as the player met specific requirements.

5. Became A Senior Squad Player Instantly

Prior to the start of the 2020/21 season, Pedri was presented as a Barcelona player and given the number 16 shirt. He took part in pre-season training but the original plan was to loan Pedri out for a season for him to develop.

However, this was not in Pedri’s plan, and as they say, he was not there to take part but to take over. During Barcelona’s pre-season training, Pedri was so impressive that Ronald Koeman opted against loaning him out. Instead, he was promoted to Barcelona’s senior squad.

6. Second Youngest Player to Reach 50 Appearances for Barcelona

Bojan Krkic, youngest player to play 50 games for Barcelona by Jordan Beard – Wikipedia

Pedri made his competitive Barcelona debut on 27th September 2020 replacing Philippe Coutinho in a 4-0 home win against Villareal. On 20th October, he score his first Barcelona goal on his UEFA Champions League debut, in a 5–1 win over Ferencváros.

He won his first trophy, the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao on 17th April 2021. On 8th May he made his 50th appearance for Barcelona. Pedri was at 18 years and 164 days at the time.

This made him the second youngest player to reach this milestone after Bojan Krkić, who was 18 years and 3 days when he set the record.

7. €1 Billion ($1.57 Billion) Release Clause

Cash by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

In October 2021, Pedri signed a contract extension with Barcelona after months of speculation as he put in consistent world-class performances. The contract will keep Pedri at Camp Nou for at least until June 2026.

As per La Liga regulations, Pedri’s contract has a release/buyout clause inserted. After PSG triggered Neymar’s high buyout, Barcelona is cautious and puts very high release clauses on their players.

Pedri’s release clause is set at 1 billion euros. This is the joint highest in La Liga level with teammates Gavi and Araujo.

8. Golden Boy Award Winner

Gavi, Pedri’s teammate and fellow Golden Boy Award Winner by TheSoccerBoy – Wikipedia

The Golden Boy is an honor bestowed by sports writers to a young football player. The player has to be competing in Europe, under 21, and who they believe has been the most spectacular over the course of a calendar year.

Pedri won the 2021 Golden Boy award while his teammate Gavi won the 2022 award. Pedri also won 2021’s Kopa trophy and much like the Golden Boy award, Gavi won 2022’s.

9. Youngest Player to Represent Spain at The European Championships

Pedri received his first call-up to the Spain senior team in March 2021. On March 25, he played his first game against Greece. The Spain team for UEFA Euro 2020 included Pedri. He participated in every match Spain played on their way to the semifinals.

At the competition, he smashed two records. He first set the record for being the youngest player to ever play for Spain in a European Championship final and then for being the youngest player to appear in a knockout match.

In November 2022, Luis Enrique named Pedri in his 26-man squad for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Pedri will link up with teammates Jordi Alba, Gavi, Busquets, and Gavi in Qatar for their international duty.

10. 73 Games Played in the 2020/21 Season

During the 2020/21 season, Pedri was a busy man, to say the least. He barely missed any game for both club and country.

Having made 59 appearances for Barcelona in the season, Pedri was then called up on international duty for EURO 2020. He would go on to play every minute except one in Spain’s 6 games at the tournament.

After the tournament concluded, Pedri was called up for Spain’s 2020 Summer Olympics squad. The move was criticized by then-coach Koeman saying it was “too much”.

Nonetheless, Pedri went to the tournament and yet again played in all games reaching his tally for the season to 73 games. Talk about a workhorse!