Barcelona learn extent of Pedri's latest injury setback

Barcelona have learned that Pedri’s latest injury setback is less severe than initially thought, with coach Xavi optimistic the midfielder will be able to overcome his problems for good.

Pedri burst onto the scene at the age of 16 and played an extraordinary amount of games over the course of the 2020/21 season, during which he turned 17. The midfielder made 52 Barca appearances, as well as ten for Spain’s senior team, another seven for the Under-23s and four for the Under-21s, playing at Euro 2020 and the Olympics one after the other.

Muscle injuries began to mount up just months later and Pedri has missed a considerable amount of football since – more than 70 games for club and country. Two months after coming back from his previous absence, the 21-year-old was withdrawn just before half-time against Athletic Club last weekend. He hasn’t played for Spain since the World Cup 15 months ago.

But Xavi has allayed fears of a major problem, insisting he has faith Pedri can get over the fitness issues that have badly stalled a career that had promised to be generational.

"What we try to do is prevent injuries, I believe we have done an impeccable job with that, especially with Pedri. I've already told him it’s his last injury. It's not as serious as we thought. I am certain he will come back and be important," Xavi told the Spanish press on Thursday.

"He is not the first player to have many injuries at the start of his career and never get injured again. It's not easy to handle that pressure at a young age, I believe he has to convince himself that he will recover from this for good."

Although not directly addressing them, his comments appeared to shut down rumours of Barca potentially cashing in on Pedri amid past links with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

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