According to Villarreal duo Samuel Chukwueze and Pau Torres, Barcelona’s Pedri is the best midfielder in world football.
The Spain international has cemented himself as a regular for La Roja and the Blaugrana and is a regular fixture in manager Xavi Hernandez’s line-up. He has scored a goal in 10 appearances across all competitions for Barca this season.
Chukwueze and Torres were asked by content creator Adi Contreras to name the best midfielder in the world. The duo did not take much time to choose Pedri. (h/t BarcaUniversal).
Barcelona signed the teenager from UD Las Palmas just a little over two years ago. Since then, he has taken tremendous strides to become an irreplaceable player for the Catalan giants.
Hamstring injuries restricted Pedri to making just 12 league appearances last season, where he managed three goals and one assist. There are other midfielders worthy of earning the ‘best midfielder in the world’ tag but Pedri’s brilliance at such a young age sets him apart from the rest.
Torres has had a first-hand view of the midfielder’s brilliance as the two have shared the pitch 17 times as teammates for the national team, including with the U23 side.
Chukwueze, meanwhile, has come up against Pedri twice – both in the 2020-21 league season. Barcelona defeated Villarreal 4-0 at home and then 2-1 at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
Pedri in awe of new Barcelona summer signing Robert Lewandowski
Lewandowski has found a fan in Pedri, with the midfielder saying that he is amazed to see the Poland international train at such a high level.
In the post-match press conference following a 1-0 loss against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League, he said (h/t BarcaUniversal):
“It’s crazy how he trains and plays. He works like a 19-year-old boy. He has clear ideas and has given me a lot of confidence. He wants to win things here.”
Lewandowski joined Barcelona this summer from Bayern Munich for a fee of €45 million. Since then, he has scored 12 goals and provided two assists in 10 games across competitions.
Like Pedri, who is 15 years his junior, Lewandowski is a player Xavi will not think about benching in big games. The Polish centre-forward was, however, unable to score or assist for Barca for the second game in succession during their 1-0 loss to I Nerazzurri on 4 October in Milan.
Lewandowski drew a blank against his old club, Bayern, who beat Barca 2-0 at Camp Nou earlier this season. Barcelona sit third in their group with three points from as many games – three behind Inter and six behind group leaders Bayern.