Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has once again praised Pedri. The co-host of The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast and 11-time English champion has placed the Barcelona player at the top of his list of the five best midfielders in the world today.
“The number 1 is Pedri. When I saw him against Newcastle, I said, ‘Wow!’… He’s like a combination of Xavi and Iniesta,” hailed Scholes.
“We’re not just talking about his feet, but above all, his football intelligence. Sometimes he finds himself in difficult situations, and the way he overcomes them with a little one-two or a shoulder feint is incredible. His technique is brilliant.”
Following the Catalans’ victory over the Magpies in the Champions League (1-2) last Thursday, Scholes had already crowned Pedri as his ‘new favorite soccer player’ in a story posted on his social media accounts. ‘New’ is a term that may surprise European football fans, who have been aware of the Spanish midfielder’s qualities for several seasons, but Scholes used it because of his admitted lack of familiarity with La Liga, which he has not watched in recent years.
A league that the 66-time England international may well turn to in the future, given how impressed he was by the Barcelona number 8’s performance. “The best thing was that when Newcastle scored, there were 8 minutes of stoppage time left. I thought it was going to be exciting…,” said Scholes. “But Pedri had the ball for 7 of the 8 minutes. He took complete control of the game. I thought it was brilliant.”
In the starting lineup at St James’ Park, Pedri once again put in a high-flying performance, both with and without the possession. As the player who touched the highest number of balls during the match (112), he also won the most ground duels (9 out of 12) and caused the most fouls against him (3).
