The era of Xavi, Iniesta, and Pirlo has long passed, and Modrić and De Bruyne have moved to Serie A to wind down their careers. Today, the truemidfield maestromight just be Pedri, the linchpin of Spain’s national team and the genuine core of Barcelona.

In the early hours of September 8 (Beijing time), during the second round of the European World Cup qualifiers Group E, Spain dominated Turkey 6-0 on their turf! Ranked 27th in the world with a total market value of 385 million euros, Turkey is a second-tier European football nation, but to lose by six goals at home to Spain was truly shocking.

In this match, 22-year-old Spanish midfielder Pedri started and played 68 minutes, making 3 shots (tied for third), 3 shots on target (tied for first), scoring 2 goals, plus 3 key passes (tied for second), 3 interceptions (tied for third), with a passing accuracy of 90.7%. He was omnipresent on the field, as shown by his heat map covering almost the entire pitch.

After the game, Pedri received a rating of 9.6, the second highest in the team, only behind Merino who scored a hat-trick with 9.8 points, highlighting Pedri’s outstanding performance. Among active players, Pedri might already be the top midfield maestro, the dual core of both Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Whenever Pedri starts, whether for Barcelona or Spain, the midfield immediately elevates a level and the team’s attack flows seamlessly. This is the true value of a midfield maestro. Pedri’s current market value is as high as 140 million euros, making him the second most valuable player in the Spanish squad, just behind Yamal who is valued at 200 million euros.