Put some respect on Pedri's name: Injury-free Barcelona star isn't being spoken about enough for world-class midfield displays

It's difficult to overstate just how big an impact Pedri made at Barcelona following his arrival in the summer of 2020. The €5 million signing from Las Palmas (one of the greatest buys in Barca's history) was only expected to feature sporadically during his debut season at Camp Nou, but he became a regular starter in a matter of months.

Even Lionel Messi was blown away by the teenager's talent, and there was a lovely moment during a 3-0 win at Real Valladolid when the No.10 made history by becoming the player with the most goals for a single club in football history, but rather than basking in his latest achievement, he instead pointed at Pedri, the provider of an outrageous backheeled assist.

The pair played wonderfully alongside one another that seaso,n and it was even hoped that their fantastic on-field relationship, which seemed to symbolise Barca's past, present and future, might even convince Messi to stay in Catalunya. However, the Argentine left just as Pedri began to break down.

Barcelona and Spain ran Pedri into the ground in 2021. He featured in 52 games for his club, and represented his country at the both the European Championship and the Olympics in the same summer. He was still only 18 and, unsurprisingly, his body buckled under the strain of playing so much elite-level football at such a young age.

Pedri missed nearly the entire 2021-22 season because of two separate - but clearly connected - spells on the sidelines with hamstring injuries. It came as no surprise, then, to see him reduced to tears when he was forced off with yet another muscular problem during Barca's clash with Athletic Club on March 5 of last year.

Back then, there was a very real fear that Pedri's development had been irreparably damaged by playing a ridiculous 73 games for Barca and Spain in 2020-21, and that he might never fully recover, much like his team-mate Ansu Fati.

However, Barcelona left no stone unturned in their bid to help Pedri finally get over his physical problems, and the results of genetic analysis of his muscles carried out in the United States suggested that he required daily strength work.

Pedri also benefited enormously from working with Hansi Flick and the German's backroom team. Whereas there was an understandable worry that Pedri might struggle under such a notoriously demanding coach who attaches an enormous amount of importance to intensive pressing, it has actually proved the making of him.

"Physically, I notice that I am doing much better, able to do different things," he told Mundo Deportivo. "We are working much harder at the club than before and I think the physical trainers who have come in are doing us a lot of good. We put in a lot of effort in training and that shows in the game. The team doesn't let up after the 70th or 80th minute, but rather maintains its level of fitness."

All of the hard work is paying off, both for Pedri and for Barcelona. The 22-year-old has missed just one game so far this season, and that was only because of illness.

He remains a relatively slender figure for a modern midfielder, more in the mould of Cesc Fabregas than Yaya Toure, but is proving far more robust than ever before. Only Jules Kounde and Pau Cubarsi have featured in more games for Barca than Pedri this season, while only Raphinha has made more starts. Not since 2020-21 have we seen so much of Pedri on the pitch - and it's fair to say that he's making his presence felt.

Again, though, Flick has been key in that regard. As well as boosting Barca's overall fitness levels, he's also lifted the toxic atmosphere that had descended upon the club during Joan Laporta's reprehensible handling of Xavi's dismissal as coach last season.

"He's really close to the players; someone who likes to talk with us," Pedri said of Flick in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. "Apart from being serious, he also enjoys a joke, he's not always as serious as he appears.

"He helps us young players a lot. He's always on top of what we need and you appreciate that. When things have to be taken seriously, though, he does. He does have that element of a sergeant about him, but he's as good as gold when he speaks with the players."

Flick has also made a hugely significant positional change that is belatedly harnessing all of Pedri's potential. Whereas he'd previously been deployed in a more advanced position to make the most of his ability to prise open opposition defences with his precision passing, he's now playing in a deeper role within a double pivot alongside a more orthodox holding midfielder like Marc Casado or Frenkie de Jong.

In a way, the thinking was quite simple - Pedri is Barca's best ball-player, so why not get him on the ball as much as possible?! - but the ploy has proven even more effective than even Flick envisaged. As well as contributing five goals and six assists so far this term, Pedri has become absolutely integral to everything Barcelona do, the perfect link between defence and attack and arguably the key component in a team of superstars.

He's won more possession than any other player across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues this season (233 times), while only Raphinha has created more chances than Pedri (61) for Barca.

He also makes the most successful passes into the final third for Flick's Liga leaders, while he ranks second at Camp Nou for tackles won (45) and duels won (177), and joint-first alongside Casado for interceptions (23 apiece).

Flick, then, has a point when he says that Pedri should not be compared to any other player in the game right now. He is, as the ex-Bayern Munich boss has repeatedly pointed out, an extraordinarily complete footballer presently performing at the peak of his powers ahead of the resumption of Barca's Champions League campaign away to Benfica next week.

"I feel liberated," Pedri admitted to Mundo Deportivo. "I think Flick has also conveyed that to me: to play without pressure, to do what I know how to do and I feel much more relaxed now." And that the mix of confidence and calmness is undoubtedly rooted in the fact that he's physically stronger than ever before.

Barca and Spain will obviously have to continue carefully managing Pedri's workload, particularly in light of an increasingly congested international match calendar, but it's immensely encouraging that he is capable of covering an incredible amount of ground in each and every game.

Basically, after almost four years, Pedri is finally injury-free - and flourishing as a result. He's got both a new contract and a new lease of life.

"It has been a long time since I enjoyed my football so much," he said after committing his future to Barca until 2030. "I am where I am want to be the most. We have a very young team that in a few years will be even better."

Pedri, then, isn't just 'untouchable' at Barcelona again; he might be unstoppable too.