Pedri: 'I always watched Barca games for Iniesta'

The Canary player, signed up this summer by Barça and who was loaned at UD Las Palmas, admits that he is a native Barcelonist

FC Barcelona closed the signing of Pedri González (Tegueste, 25 November 2002) at the last moment of the summer market for five million euros. A considerable figure for a footballer so young, 16 years old, but that the Canary is beginning to justify being the great revelation of LaLiga SmartBank with UD Las Palmas, where he was loaned this season.

Now, Pedri is focused on the U17 World Cup, competition that starts today in Brazil and in which Spain will premiere next Monday. The Canary is one of the footballers to follow and before traveling to Rio de Janeiro attended MD to talk about the present, because he knows that what he sows today will pick up in the future. “I think of being able to play at Camp Nou one day, but for the moment that is far from me. I want to compete for the World Cup now and continue to grow in Las Palmas,” said Pedri, a humble and very shy boy, nothing to do with the cheeky forward that is seen on the pitch.

Yes, although it seems a cliché he did not hide his passion culé, something that comes from home because his father, Fernando, is president of the Peña Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste. “Yes, I've been a sucker, since I was a little boy. It is a pride for me that I have signed Barça”, although I quickly played from my feet to the ground and remembered that “I have to be thinking first of Las Palmas and now of the National Team”. Regarding his signing for Barça, he had already said that “he was freaked out” when he received the call from Barcelona's offices and is now happy to fulfill his dream and be able to emulate one of his idols, Andrés Iniesta, a reference in and out of the field. “I always watched Barça games for Iniesta, because I love the way they play and the way they are in everyday life,” he said.

Pedri has been uncovered in Second Division A being a very important player in Las Palmas. “I did not expect this start, I thought it would cost me a little more because it is a very abrupt change from youth to Second Division. I feel very well.” In the yellow team he understands perfectly with Jonathan Vieira, who has welcomed him as a football big brother. “This one understands everyone well,” Pedri smiled. “It's a great time to play with him and I learn every day. Besides, as a person he is a ten.”