BARCELONA wonderkid Pedri has been given the iconic No8 shirt worn by greats such as Andres Iniesta, Pep Guardiola and Gary Lineker.
The 19-year-old has impressed since his 2019 move from Las Palmas.
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He has made 73 appearances for the Catalan giants, netting eight goals and recording seven assists.
Pedri is an important player for manager Xavi.
Xavi, who is a Barca great and regarded as one of the best midfielders of all time, believes Pedri is the most talented player on the planet.
He said on Pedri: "There is no player in the world with as much talent as Pedri – and he is only 19!
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"He is absolutely superlative. How he turns, his understanding of space and time and the fact he uses both feet.
"It is amazing to have him in the team and we must take care of him.
“He came on for half an hour and was important. He makes the difference, in how we play, in the box… he wins balls back.
"We demanded he shoot more and now he has three goals [since coming back from injury].
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“Look, he’s not a normal player. There are very few like him. Perhaps, at his age, he is already the best in the world in his position.”
With such compliments comes great responsibility, and so he has been handed the famous No8 shirt.
The iconic number was carried by Barca greats such as Iniesta, Guardiola and Lineker.
Iniesta held the No8 shirt for over a decade.
And in the No8 shirt, Iniesta helped lead Barca to a raft of major honours at home and abroad.
Pedri signed fresh terms with Barca last year, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2026.
He has a £846million release clause, highlighting his importance to Barca's re-build under boss Xavi and Joan Laporta's presidency.
Lineker wore number 8 rather than number 9 at Barcelona.
He said:"People sometimes ask why, as a centre-forward, I didn’t opt any point for the traditional number 9.
"And the motivating factor, not for the first time in my life, was pure superstition.
"I had worn number 9 a couple of times very early on at Leicester and had bad games while wearing it. Number 8 worked better."
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