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‘When I watched him as a kid, he was the best’: Barcelona star midfielder Pedri hails Lionel Messi as the greatest player of all time after playing with him as a youth, as the 20-year-old talks of emulating his idol by winning the world cup one day
- Despite being only 20 years old, Pedri has become a key player for Barcelona.
- The midfielder names his ex-teammate Lionel Messi as the ‘best’ in history
- He hopes to emulate the Argentine legend by winning the World Cup
Lionel Messi has received further endorsement of his status as the best player in the world from one of the rising stars bidding to one day replace him as the best in the game.
Spanish midfielder Pedri began his career alongside Argentine Messi in Barcelona’s famous blue and red three years ago.
And the heir to Messi’s throne at the Camp Nou believes his former colleague’s December World Cup victory with the South Americans justified his Best FIFA award earlier this week, as well as ending the GOAT debate with the former. Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Pedri said: ‘I have always been clear on this. Since I saw Leo as a child, he was the best. And when I had the opportunity to play with him, he confirmed it.
We already saw in the World Cup what he is capable of doing and what he has been doing for many years. I texted him congratulations, but I think his phone was blowing up!’
Despite being only 20 years old, Pedri has become a key player for Barcelona.
Names his former Barça teammate Lionel Messi as the greatest player of all time
Messi turns 36 this summer and Pedri, 20, is at the head of the players who will succeed him as the best in the world in the not too distant future.
“Hopefully I can win it one day,” he smiled. “It is very complicated because there is a lot of competition with very good people like [Erling] Haaland and [Kylian] Mbappé, but obviously we work for challenges like this.”
Other rivals for the crown include Jude Bellingham of England and Jamal Musiala of Germany, but Pedri welcomes the competition.
And he added: ‘They are two incredible players, true stars. The three of us are at a high level, but there are many more high-quality players.
We are watching Gavi [here at Barca]that is crazy good, Gabri Veiga [at Celta Vigo], who is also having a great time right now. They are very talented players and people will talk a lot about them.
Pedri’s importance to Barcelona after Messi’s move to Paris St Germain cannot be underestimated.
Since the Spanish star suffered a hamstring injury in the first leg of Barca’s Europa League tie against Manchester United, he has won just one of his subsequent four games.
His win rate with the young master has gone up to 90%, but it drops to 57% without him.
Pedri credits much of his success both to his family and to his teammates, coaches and a large army of club and country supporters.
The Argentine legend moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 and recently surpassed 700 career club goals.
Pedri hopes to emulate Messi by winning the World Cup and has already become a key figure in the Spanish team
He explained: ‘My family always helps me. They try to help me keep a cool head, feet on the ground, and calm.
‘I live day to day as I always have. I try not to hear too much praise.
‘I was once told that flattery weakens. I think it’s a very good motto. I know that I have a lot of room for improvement and that I have to work harder because when you stop, someone else is working to be better than you.
Pedri spoke as TCL’s global brand ambassador. #InspireGreatness @TCL_Global. More details here