How quickly Pedri reached 100 appearances compared to Barcelona legends

Pedri has now made 100 appearances for Barcelona, but how quickly did he become a centurion compared to the legends he followed in the footsteps of?

It's an achievement that shows just how crucial to the club the midfielder already is given he's missed a considerable number of matches through injury since joining from Las Palmas in 2020.

When fit, the midfielder has been arguably their stand-out player and his potential is mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi such is his talent.

He's how quickly they and a few other Barca icons hit triple figures.

How does Pedri's run to 100 games compare to other Barcelona legends?

Pedri has only just stopped being a teenager, at 20 years and 64 days old when coming on for his 100th Barcelona appearance against Girona.

Even with the huge number of young talents to come through there, precious few players have been quite so young when reaching that milestone for the club.

Lionel Messi became the youngest to do so in February 2008, hitting 100 games when 20 years and 246 days old.

He didn't hold the record for long though with Bojan Krkic breaking it just over a year later, making his 100th appearance at the age of 19 years and 86 days.

Pedri slots in between the two La Masia products and comfortably ahead of current team-mate Sergio Busquets, who had just turned 22 when he became a Barca centurion.

Manager Xavi meanwhile was 21 when he did so while Iniesta was something of a relative late bloomer in comparison, being 22, marginally older than Busquets.

What records has Pedri broken?

While Pedri didn't quite become the youngest player to reach 100 appearances for Barcelona, he has already broken a number of other records in his career.

At Euro 2020, he became the youngest ever to play in the competition for Spain when he started his nation's opening match against Sweden.

Soon afterwards in that tournament, he became the youngest player ever to appear in the knockout stages, breaking the record set by an 18-year-old Wayne Rooney in 2004.

That same summer, he broke the record for the most matches played in one season when he made his 73rd appearance in total, coming at the Olympics.

At the end of 2021, he won the prestigious Golden Boy award, recording the highest points-tally ever in the process.

What's next for Pedri?

Pedri is well on his way to becoming a Barcelona legend, and the next step on that journey is to win a major trophy with the club.

He's already lifted the Copa del Rey and Supercopa with them, but the priorities are always La Liga and the Champions League, and he could well be about to win the former.

His team currently sit top of the league ahead of Real Madrid , thanks in no small part to his excellent performances, and very much look like the best team in Spain at the moment.

They've already been knocked out of the Champions League, meaning the midfielder will have to wait another year for the chance to get his hands on club football's biggest prize, but are one of the favourites to win the Europa League.

Pedri also has the chance to win the Nations League with his country this year and looks set to become one of the youngest players ever to reach 20 caps for the Spain national team in the process.

How Pedri has led Barcelona's resurgence

It wasn't a happy time for Barcelona when Pedri burst onto the scene in 2020, with the club facing huge sporting and financial problems.

They finished third in La Liga in his first season there, were knocked out in the first knockout round of the Champions League and lost Lionel Messi at the end of the campaign, unable to afford to reigster the new contract that had been agreed.

Camp Nou has rarely seen darker times, but Pedri's emergence gave the Blaugrana fans something to smile about, and that has remained the case ever since, with him being the best thing Barca have had going for them for the past two years.

His development has been absolutely crucial to the improved fortunes of the club - every time he's been on the pitch, he's been one of their best players and has won matches on his own at times.

So good has he been that the club haven't been forced to spend big money on their midfield, allowing them to bring in top players in other areas such as Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde.