Messi first discovered Pedri’s qualities, says former Barcelona coach Koeman

In an interview, Ronald Koeman revisited his time at Barcelona, where he was able to coach club legend Lionel Messi. The Dutch coach singled out the Argentine footballer who should have been the first to recognise the qualities of Pedri and had a significant influence on his further development.

Ronald Koeman was the coach of Barcelona between 2020 and 2021. Although he didn’t start his engagement badly, his team didn’t maintain their form and he had to leave the club due to disappointing results.

In his era, Pedri, now an indispensable player in the starting line-up, started in the team and collected his first minutes. And as Koeman said in an interview with Spanish daily Sport , Messi had a big influence on his footballing growth.

“Messi was the first to recognise Pedri’s qualities and worked with him during the games, unlike the other players,” said the Dutch coach.

Lionel Messi was to develop a good relationship with Pedro and was to give him a lot of advice for matches. Thanks to him, Pedri is now the driving force of Barcelona and the darling of the local fans.

Pedri has made similar comments in the past, regularly praising both Messi’s footballing qualities and his contribution to the team off the pitch in interviews. He also stated that he regularly drew on his advice in matches.

So now we also have the view of then-coach Ronald Koeman, according to whom Messi took Pedri under his wing. Koeman must be credited with giving confidence to young players despite disappointing results, so that young players could gain experience in the first team.

Xavi is now following a similar philosophy after a generational change. Thus, in the starting line-up we can see, for example, Balde, Gavi, Pedri or Fati, players who are no older than 20.

And this club strategy has paid off. Barcelona is developing players for the future, and they are certainly not lagging behind in terms of quality on the pitch. The team is growing more world-class stars.

Source:: Sport, Livesport