Pedri: Spain's perpetual motion machine on Messi and Guardiola's Olympic trail

Pedri is the future of Spanish football and both Barcelona and the national team know it.

At 17 he connected with Messi at Barcelona the way Messi connected with Ronaldinho when he was 17, a natural progression that's as exciting as it sounds, and now we get to watch him at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In less than a year Pedri's gone from 'who's that kid?' to 'the man who made Messi smile again' and even he finds it hard to believe.

"When you stop to think about it, yes it's all happened so quickly," he told the the national team's twitter in Tokyo.

"From one day to the next you're playing with Barça, with the national team and now at the Olympic Games. I try to keep calm but it's hard with everything that's happening to me, it's just absolutely crazy what I'm living right now."

And right now he's following in the footsteps of two of his greatest heroes, aiming at winning Spain's first Olympic gold since Pep Guardiola won gold at Barcelona 1992, also emulating Messi's golden moment at Beijing 2008.

Pedri González

Pedro González López, simply Pedri, is part of a Spanish Olympic squad stacked with household names and rising stars like Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, and Bryan Gil.

Pedri is one of six players that has come directly from losing out in the semi-finals of Euro 2020 on penalties to eventual winners Italy, jumping on a plane to Tokyo with goalkeeper Unai Simon, defenders Eric Garcia and Pau Torres, and attackers Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal.

"I think we have a really good team, great players, and most importantly good people," Pedri continues to @SeFutbol, "I think we have the quality to do big things here and I hope we can win it."

29 years after that legendary Spanish side with Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Santi Cañizares, Albert Ferrer, Kiko Narváez et. al, Pedri could be the catalyst for another unforgettable Olympic moment for La Roja.

Pedri at Barcelona

Fast forward twenty years from 1992 to 25 November 2002, and Pedri was born, looking back now it seems he was destined to play for Barcelona.

His grandfather set up the first ever Barça fan club in his tiny hometown of Tegueste in Tenerife (Population 11,000) and the entire family are Culé fanatics.

He grew up watching Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona teams at the end of the Ronaldinho era and the beginning of Messi's time, with midfield giants Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets tiki-takaing their way to consecutive Euros and Spain's first ever World Cup in 2010.

Pedri's first coach at Juventud Laguna - the football club ten minutes from his house in San Cristóbal de La Laguna where it all started - said that even as a youngster he resembled Iniesta.

"When he was nine years old he reminded me of Iniesta in the way he played," coach Rubén Delgado told The Athletic.

"He kept it simple. He didn't try and nutmeg people or dribble past everyone, he just did the simple things well. He was simply different: The way he saw football and understood the game, found spaces that no-one else could find, his maturity compared to the others."

As a player Pedri always impressed, but as person too.

"It wasn't just how he played with the ball, but the respect he showed for his teammates, for rival players, for the coaches, for everyone."

Pedri: From Las Palmas to Barcelona

Shining at Juventud Laguna, Pedri quickly found himself at la Casa Amarilla with Las Palmas, the top academy in the Canaries, and manager Pepe Mel saw his talent straight away.

Pedri made his first team debut on 18 August 2019. He was 16.

Showing extraordinary composure for his age, his impact was immediate and Pedri played 36 of 42 league games in the 2019/2020 season, starting in 34 of them, scoring four goals and laying on five assists.

A mercurial playmaker who loves to have the ball and form little partnerships over all the pitch, as comfortable behind the main striker as he is attacking from wide areas: The perfect profile for Barcelona, and when the big clubs started circling the choice was easy.

Before his 18th birthday Pedri had already lived more boyhood football fantasies than most would get to live in a dozen lifetimes:

Signed by Barcelona, scored his first goal in a blaugrana shirt, bagged a debut goal in the Champions League, and set Messi up for the goal that took him above Pelé in the all-time club record charts with a brilliant backheel.

The stuff of dreams have become daily routine for Pedri.

Pedri and Messi

Remember when Messi was down and the rumours swirled that he was leaving Barcelona?

Popular Guardian podcast Football Weekly even created the 'Messi Happiness Index' to gauge how happy or sad he was on any given day.

Chaos in the boardroom and a lack of chemistry on the pitch began to weigh heavily on Messi in November and December of 2020, but suddenly this young canario appeared on the Argentine astro's shoulder.

Injuries to Coutinho and Ansu Fati opened the door for Pedri and by the first week of January 2021 Messi's previous three goals had all come from assists from the 17-year-old.

“Messi is happy, you can see," said Barça boss Ronald Koeman. "He plays better with good players around him. Pedri is good between the lines and combines well with Leo.”

Pedri “unfurrowed Messi’s brow” as Alfredo Relaño, editor of one of Spain's big two sports dailies - Diario AS, put it.

Messi's interstellar career has been punctuated with great partnerships like the ones he struck up with Ronaldinho, Dani Alves, Xavi and Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Suarez and Neymar. 'Socios' the Spanish call them.

The kid from the Canaries had that instant connection with Messi at 17 that Coutinho, Griezmann, Dembélé, and Pjanić never managed to spark.

Pedri's humility and unselfish style might have something to do with it, and he's come a long way from the first time he stepped on the same training pitch as his idol:

"The first day I saw him I thought it couldn't be true. Being next to Messi had a big impact on me, from seeing him on the television or videogames... I almost didn't believe it," the overwhelmed teen said at the time.

He also said that he wants to play alongside Messi for many years to come, a wish that looks like it'll be granted with Messi's latest contract extension which is reported to keep him at Barcelona for the next five years.

Now kids all over the world are starting to look at Pedri the way Pedri looked at Messi.

Pedri and the Olympics: Tired? Nah...

At Euro 2020 he played every single minute for Spain - all 629 of them - hacking defences with his mercurial movement and ability to see between the lines.

Awarded the Young Player of the Tournament and named to UEFA's official team of Euro 2020 on the day he left for Tokyo, his 629 Euro minutes directly followed 52 matches and over 4,500 minutes with Barcelona in the 20/21 season.

So is he not tired?

Nope.

The 18-year-old dynamo continues to rack up miles, minutes and matches without blinking, a boundless source of energy and creative vitality for Spain's football.

For Pedri, it's simple. He's just out for a kick-around with his friends on the Canary Islands.

"Before the match in the changing room sometimes I feel a little nervous..." he explains on that Twitter chat with @SeFutbol, "...thinking about what might happen in the game, but as soon as I get out there on the pitch I just think as if I'm out there playing with my friends in the park."

That carefree idea allied to a fierce competitive spirit, work ethic, and uncanny understanding of the game is a winning combination.

"Whatever happens I'm going to keep trying again and again and to be honest, it's worked this far. I hope it carries on like this."

"Good vibes," he wrote on social media after coming on against hosts Japan in a pre-Olympic tune-up and changing the game, with Spain trailing to a goal inspired by another teen sensation - Real Madrid's Take Kubo.

Pedri came on in the 67th minute and slipped a pass sharp as a surgeon's blade to Miranda, who crossed for Carlos Soler to equalise.

Yet more proof that the real vibe right now is watching Pedri at Tokyo 2020.