Optimism at Barca over Pedri's deserved rest

It doesn’t seem so but Pedri is human and someday he’ll have to rest. After an intense first season with Euros and Olympics included, he agreed to play in Barca’s first three league games. Koeman knows how important he is to the team, and they started well against Real Sociedad. They hope to have the same success against Athletic and Getafe, with Pedri starting, barring any set-backs.

SPORT reported already that Barca’s plan is to take advantage of Pedri’s match fitness to help the team now, then rest him during the international break.

Barca are trusting that Luis Enrique will let him off from participating in the games. It’s up to the Asturian but they trust he understands the peculiarity of the situation. If it’s confirmed, in the end Pedri could enjoy some brief holiday after the game against Getafe. More than physically, he can use a mental rest.

Whatever happens, Pedri will take it with a smile. He played his first game in public with fans on Sunday and is not tired of doing what he loves most. 

Pedri has played 45 games for Barca in which he’s played 45 minutes or more. Barca have to give Las Palmas an extra 5m euros per 25 games he plays at least half of. So, with five more games they’ll owe the Canarians another five. So far, with that, they’ll have paid a bargain 12m euros for Pedri. SPORT has reported the largest the fee can grow to is 21-22 million euros.