The 2025 prize remains up for grabs, and there's no reason why the Spain playmaker shouldn't be among the leading contenders

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There's so much going on at Barcelona at any given time that we can barely keep track of everything occurring. The club are continuing to churn out starlet after starlet from their La Masia youth academy, not least 17-year-old Lamine Yamal who's already sweeping up trophies and earning comparisons to Lionel Messi. On the other flank, Raphinha is beyond the end point of a regular redemption arc and appears more like Christ reincarnated as a typically tricky Brazilian winger. Up front, Robert Lewandowski is going about the same business as has been usual for the last decade that seemingly nobody has clocked he turns 37 in a few months. Even off the pitch, there's always some sort of nonsense brewing with the club's outspoken board and their failed plans to return to Camp Nou.

Beyond all of that, we have Pedri. For much of the 2024-25 season, his influence has been far more understated and under-the-radar than of those in Blaugrana halves playing higher up the pitch. But after his excursions in Saturday's Copa del Rey final triumph over Clasico rivals Real Madrid, it's hard to overlook him.

An ill-tempered, five-goal thriller at La Cartuja swung the way of Barca, and it was their midfield magician who got the ball rolling, slamming home from 20 yards with one hell of a wicked strike. It was ironic this magnificent goal itself was overshadowed by essentially every single other event that evening, though at least there finally appears to be some momentum behind movement to earn Pedri even more notable accolades, including this year's up-for-grabs Ballon d'Or.

Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images Sport'New Iniesta'

Now's a good time to remind you that Pedri is still only 22. Yet he has played 232 senior games at club level, plus 32 for the Spanish national team. All the while, he has been the poster boy of burnout and overexposure to too much football too soon.

Despite missing 88 matches already in his career through various muscle and knee injuries, Pedri has not let his standards slip. There is still a spritely yard of pace in both his legs and brain that makes him so difficult to dispossess, so gifted at spraying passes left and right. It would have been very easy for him to shrink away from responsibility, but he has instead endeavoured to take it on regardless of the physical hurdles he's had to overcome.

"I've experienced all the situations," Pedri explained in an interview with . "At first it was all praise, then the criticism came and now the praise has returned. I've experienced both sides of the coin. They said I was made of glass, that it hurt me a lot…. When you get criticised so much, you want to give more of yourself and shut those mouths that talk about you like that. And beyond shutting those mouths, what you want to do is enjoy yourself. And now I'm doing it, which I haven't done for a long time."

Pedri's slick style earned him comparisons with Barca great Andres Iniesta from an early age, and they only intensified when he swapped the Canary Islands of Las Palmas for Catalunya in 2020. Nevertheless, he has still managed to meet expectations set of him so far.

"By watching so many matches on TV, watching videos of Andres or Xavi, I think something sticks with you," Pedri recently told UEFA. "You try to copy them, you try to practice it, but it's tough to be at that level. So, you try to improve every day so that, one day, you can do what they did.

"I would often watch an Iniesta video, who was my idol, and I would try to copy what he did in the video, or what he did in a specific play, how he protected the ball. You sometimes try to copy them; other times, you struggle because it's tough, but you still try to do it in the best way possible."

AdvertisementAFPBarca's heartbeat

The only price Barcelona have ever had to pay for years of arguable mismanagement was the enforced departure of Lionel Messi. Who, you know, is literally the best player in the history of football, so it's not like they got off scot free. They did, however, manage to regain their La Liga crown within two years of that exit and have since built an exciting team of young talent, even if that has partially been enforced by the various financial constraints restricting their market movement.

Alongside Pedri and Yamal, the likes of Pau Cubarsi, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Alejandro Balde and Gerard Martin have been allowed to spread their wings, with Hansi Flick continuing the legacy started by his predecessor, Xavi. What Pedri has claimed has helped Barca is Flick's paternal presence: "He is like a father to us. He always tries to take care of us. He's there to support you if you're not playing, and he always tries to help you. He looks strict from the outside, but he always stands by us when going through a bad time. He speaks to you, asks what's wrong.

"It was hard to adapt [to the high line], especially when I was watching it from the outside during pre-season and they were implementing it. But from the very start, I think the team has done it really well and when it works, and you see that something is going well with the coach's idea, I think it gives you much more confidence."

Under Flick, Barcelona have rediscovered their mojo and become one of Europe's most excitingly potent teams again. Gambling with an aggressive high line has paid dividends already in the form of the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana, with two further trophies up for grabs and well within Barca's reach – they sit four points clear atop La Liga with five games to go and face an out-of-form Inter in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

AFPStyle plus stats

By the raw numbers and in a team that already houses a luxurious plethora of scoring options, Pedri is still enjoying a fine season. In 52 games – a tally only bettered by fellow Copa hero Jules Kounde – he has popped up with six goals and seven assists, and there is still a month of the campaign still to go.

Looking deeper uncovers the further extent of Pedri's impact. Pull up a chair and get ready for some number crunching. Per stats gurus , he ranks in the top 10 in La Liga in the following categories: expected assists (fourth), key passes (fourth), passes into final third (first, fourth in Europe's top five leagues), passes into the penalty area (second, eighth in Europe's top five leagues), progressive passes (first, third in Europe's top five leagues), through balls (second, fourth in Europe's top five leagues), shot-creating actions (fourth), goal-creating actions (10th), blocks (eighth), touches (second), successful take-ons (eighth), progressive-carrying distance (sixth) and points-per-match (eighth).

And breathe. That is a staggeringly stuffed stat sheet. Even still, Pedri wants more. He recently claimed: "What could I improve? Many things. You can always lose fewer balls, you can always improve your goal tally, choose better when it's time to speed up or calm down the game… Everything can be improved."

AFPRivalry with Bellingham

An extra wrinkle to Pedri's rise is the mirroring of what's going on over in the Spanish capital. While Barca are largely relying on homegrown and organic solutions, Real Madrid are still living and dying by flashy imports from abroad as they have always done. The Clasico rivalry is built on all sorts of parallels and squad-building is just one of them.

In the white corner, Jude Bellingham is the midfielder being built around. Both he and Pedri enjoyed superb Copa finals – the Spanish press were particularly generous in their assessment of the Englishman – but it was the Barcelona boy wonder who emerged triumphant. It was but a glimpse into how their matchups could look for the next decade.

You don't need to look far to discover narrative in these duels, and one as present as Pedri vs Bellingham on the very surface is helpful. For neutrals, it brings another spectacle in itself. For Pedri and Bellingham, they can use it to push one another to the limit, a la Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.