The real fee that FC Barcelona paid for its world class midfielder Pedri has been revealed by the … [+]
The real fee that FC Barcelona paid for its world class midfielder Pedri has been revealed by the president of his boyhood club Las Palmas, Miguel Angel Ramirez, when appearing on the RAC1 program ‘Tu diràs‘
It was in September 2019 that Barca struck a bargain €5 million deal for a then-unknown talent from the Canary Islands, in the same summer that the club president at the time Josep Bartomeu paid a premium for misfit Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.
Rather than joining the reserve team Barca Atletic, which was then known as Barca B, Pedri stayed at Las Palmas for another year before finally landing in Catalonia permanently ahead of the 2020/2021 campaign.
In preseason training, Pedri impressed head coach and club legend Ronald Koeman enough to be included in his primary plans, and lifted the Copa del Rey alongside Lionel Messi before the Argentine headed to Paris Saint-Germain.
Perhaps playing too much in his breakout term, which also involved him becoming a full Spain international that starred at the Euros and Olympic Games, Pedri suffered with constant injuries in the years that followed.
After special work carried out to study his genetics and a specially-tailored training programme was created under Hansi Flick, however, Pedri is in the form of his life and arguably the best player on the planet in the center of the park.
He was recently awarded a contract renewal until 2030, and ahead of the two teams facing off on Saturday in La Liga, Ramirez revealed what Pedri really cost Barca.
“I think we are talking about an amount between €23 and €24 million euros, in that environment,” Ramirez said.
“We reached a good agreement with a boy who had never played in professional football. FC Barcelona took a gamble,” Ramirez pointed out, though obviously it has been one well worth taking for the Golden Boy and Euro 2024 winner, even if around five times more the original quoted amount.
In his first appearance there in a Barca shirt, Pedri is certain to start in midfield at the Estadi de Gran Canaria with his current employers able to move three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table through victory.
Read the full article here