(Football news) Barcelona midfielder Pedri has been named the winner of the 2021 Golden Boy award with the 18 year old becoming the first Barcelona player since Lionel Messi in 2005 to be recognized as the best young player in Europe. The 18 year old was picked over Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham for the award with the Spanish midfielder getting 318 points, 199 points more than the England international.
In the last few years, the Golden Boy award has been given to the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Joao Felix and Matthijs de Ligt. Pedri, who has enjoyed a remarkable year joined Barcelona in the summer of 2020 from Las Palmas as a 17 year old and has played an integral role in the club winning the Copa Del Rey title as well as Spain reaching the Euro 2020 semi-finals and was recognized as the Young Player of the Tournament. Quite an achievement considering that he made his international debut in March.
If that wasn’t all, Pedri was also a part of Spain’s U-23 team that lost to Brazil in the finals of the Tokyo Olympics. However, it was inevitable that the sheer number of fixtures has caught up with the 18 year old who is now sidelined due to a thigh problem for the next few weeks, restricting him to just four appearances for Barcelona this season. Speaking to Tuttosport, Pedri said “I want to thank Tuttosport for this trophy which makes me so proud. Thanks also to the members of my team and the fans who have always supported me throughout a 2021 which for me has been simply incredible.
"Of course, I want to thank Barcelona, the national side, my family, my friends and everyone who has been with me day-in-day-out without whose help I would not have been able to win the Golden Boy award." The Catalan club recently secured Pedri’s long term future at the club until 2026 with a €1 billion release clause as Barcelona look to rebuild after the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
