Aitana Bonmatí on Monday evening made use of the opportunity to throw her backing behind a member of the midfield ranks in Hansi Flick’s Barcelona squad.
The player in question? Pedri.
The name of engine room standout Pedri has of course proven an altogether prominent one in the chatter across Europe over the last 24 hours.
This comes amid widespread agreement that the 22-year-old’s ongoing brilliance was not aptly recognised at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Whilst teammate Lamine Yamal was pipped to the ‘Golden Ball’ by Paris Saint-Germain frontman Ousmane Dembélé, Pedri was forced to make do with a disappointing 11th-placed finish.
And adding her name to the list of those left somewhat surprised by as much following the ceremony was the aforementioned Aitana Bonmatí.
Faced by the media after scooping her third Women’s Ballon d’Or in succession, Barca Femení star Aitana revealed her take that:
“The Ballon d’Or went to Dembélé, and he is a great player. There were also Raphinha and Lamine, who are great players too. But we need to talk more about Pedri.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
