The young Spanish attacking midfielder of FC Barcelona Pedri received the Kopa trophy for the best player under 21 of 2021 on Monday during the Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris.
He succeeds the French Kylian Mbappé (2018) and the Dutch Matthijs de Ligt (2019), no prize having been awarded in 2020 due to the Covid crisis.
To discover
Ballon d'Or 2021: follow the ceremony live from the Châtelet theater
Liga standings
Liga fixtures and results
Ballon d'Or: prize list, results, full ranking ...
See other content
The player, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Thursday, has had a stellar trajectory in recent months, until he joined La Roja.
He was named best youngster of the last European Championship, where Spain was eliminated in the semi-final by Italy.
Pedro Gonzalez followed this summer with the Tokyo Olympics, concluded with a silver medal, after losing in the final against Brazil.
In Japan, he completed a 2020-21 marathon season, with 73 matches played which allowed him to hatch in front of the world.
Game volume and tactical ease
Trained in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands where he is from, Pedri started in September 2020 at FC Barcelona.
He became the second-youngest player to reach 50 appearances for Barca, behind striker Bojan Krkic, thanks to an impressive volume of play and tactical ease rare at his age.
Last Monday he won the famous “Golden Boy” trophy awarded by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport, which rewards the best youngster under 21 playing in Europe.
Pedri extended his contract with Barca in October until June 2026. A thigh injury is currently keeping him away from the pitch.