There’s a picture that makes the rounds on social media of Luis Enrique standing as a proud parent over a curved, topless, red-haired Pedri sucking down a bottle of water in Spain’s locker room.
It’s pretty perfect meme feed for those who want to take a pop on an overly addicted to Pedri.
The 18-year-old – who has already played over 60 matches this season and will also participate in the Olympics – has become a tireless Energizer Bunny and has run into the ground to cover his teammates’ shortcomings. He’s not just the heart of Spain’s engine room, he’s the engine.
Had Euro 2020 happened a year earlier as planned, Pedri would not have been close to Luis Enrique’s team. By June 2020, he had just finished his first season of senior football at Las Palmas in Spain’s Segunda Division.
But now that the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 still remain, Pedro Gonzalez Lopez is a strong contender for the tournament’s Young Player Award after playing virtually every second of Spain’s game.
He is also the heavy favorite for the prestigious Golden Boy – won the last four years by Kylian Mbappe, Matthjis De Ligt, Joao Felix and Erling Haaland.
Although he may not have a goal or an assist to his name (yet), Pedri has stood out as a box-to-box, driving force in Spain’s midfield and combining toughness with elegance and gif-capable moments of ingenuity with ungamorous gravel.
In her Las Palmas days, MARCA once aptly described the child as a ‘hurricane’. He is the new Spain that Luis Enrique so badly wants his team to be.
This photo of Luis Enrique and Pedri ?? pic.twitter.com/AvJrWK31De
– ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 4, 2021
Unbelievably, no player has covered more ground (61.5 km) at Euro 2020 than the teenager from the Canary Islands.
Only four players, including teammate Jordi Alba, have created more goal chances from open play. And in the quarterfinals, Pedri led the way with five important passes – more than any other player.
Although they are very different players, it is not unreasonable to suggest that no teenager has had such an impact on the European Championships since Wayne Rooney set the group stages on fire in 2004.
Pedri was not yet two when Rooney made four then and had not yet turned six when Spain won Euro 2008 at the beginning of its period of dominance.
11 – Jordi Alba ?? has created more goal chances from open play than any other player so far on # EURO2020 (11), while Pedri González ?? ranks fifth with nine. Knives. pic.twitter.com/I0nmocl16C
– OptaJose (@OptaJose) July 5, 2021
While part of the current Spain side – especially at the start of this tournament – felt like a bad act of praise from the ’08 class, Pedri feels like the real thing.
Pedri has cited Andres Iniesta and Michael Laudrup as his two touchstones, but there is also more than a strike by his boss Luis Enrique’s relentless perseverance in his makeup.
On Tuesday night at Wembley, wonderkid will have their biggest test to date against Marco Verratti and Jorginho – two of the tournament’s best performers and a couple of world-class checks.
Whatever the end result – and make no mistake Italy are favorites – it would come as no surprise if the Barça star at least stays. That expectation alone is remarkable for a player that few (even in Spain) had even heard of at this time last year.
Rejected by Tenerife and Real Madrid as young for being too small, Pedri has proven his point to the doubters and then some with his ability to just keep going. Exactly how limitless his energy stores are may be the difference between Spain’s European and Olympic successes this summer.
But pace yourself, that will not be the last thing you see of him.
