Raphinha names Barcelona’s ‘most important player’ | OneFootball

Barcelona star Raphinha has on Monday provided his take on the debate surrounding the most important player in the club’s squad.

The Brazilian’s choice? Pedri.

Midfielder Pedri is for his part of course in the midst of nothing short of a spectacular individual campaign to date.

Having put his long-running injury woes firmly behind him, the 22-year-old has looked back to every bit of the world-class young talent who broke onto the Spanish football scene at such a young age.

All told, Pedri has played his part in all but one of Barcelona’s 45 fixtures in 2024/25, chipping in with five goals and seven assists along the way.

And though such numbers in the final third pale in comparison to those who line out further forward in Hansi Flick’s XI, of the opinion that Pedri’s importance to the Blaugrana simply cannot be overstated is teammate Raphinha.

Speaking to the media, in quotes cited by Fabrizio Romano, early this week, Ballon d’Or candidate Raphinha went as far as to label his midfield teammate ‘the heart of the team’:

“Pedri doesn’t have many assists, he doesn’t have a lot of goals… but for me, he’s the most important player on our team. I think Pedri is the heart of the team.”

Conor Laird – GSFN