With the Barcelona pre-season tour of the United States of America set to kick off against English Premier League side Arsenal in Los Angeles, California, the Catalan club has a set order of side objectives in mind as well.
While the integration of their various players within the team remains crucial to their success once the official season kicks off, strengthening the Barcelona players on an individual level will be key as well.
One of the main recipients of this individual attention will be Barcelona midfielder Pedri, with the 20-year-old set to follow a very specific plan created and discussed with him by the club itself.
According to the Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, the plan designated for Pedri primarily consists of five major points that must be kept in check and worked upon for the upcoming season in order to improve the youngster’s performances and contributions to the team.
- Physical training to improve resistance to injury:
A major aspect that Barcelona are working on for most of their players, Pedri will be included in the group that is currently partaking in more excessive physical training to help the players reach new levels of fitness and avoid injuries, something the 20-year-old has struggled with in particular.
The Canary Islander also gave his own two cents on the training, stating:
“There is a lot of strength training, which the club’s program helps me with significantly. With the professionals we have, physiotherapists and fitness trainers, I will be in top form to prevent any injuries.“
- Diet and intake:
Similar to what the Catalan club practiced with Lionel Messi in 2014, Barcelona are now also helping Pedri formulate a new specific diet plan to better improve his fitness and health heading into the next season.
The player provided an insight into this new diet as well, highlighting more consumption of fish being one of the key takeaways:
“Listening to the nutritionist and eating a lot of fish, which I didn’t consume much before.“
- More involvement as an attacking outlet:
Heeding the advice of new arrival Ilkay Gundogan and the emphasis from manager Xavi Hernandez will both be key elements in helping Pedri become a more regular source of involvement in the advanced zones of the field.
The 20-year-old even highlighted the potency of Gundogan in this aspect, as showcased during his time at Manchester City, highlighting, in particular, his ability to retain the ball and how he turns with it.
- European success:
Not quite just an individual goal, Barcelona and Pedri both aspire to do well in the UEFA Champions League, a competition that the Catalans have aspired to win since their last triumph in 2015.
This time around, the 20-year-old believes that the club will look to do much better given the quality within their ranks and the sour taste left from their last campaign, stating:
“Last season, we had that thorn stuck in us. We are eager to improve in that competition, we have the squad to face it, and we want to go all out.“
- More goal contributions:
Accepting that his tally of assists last season was not up to the mark that Xavi Hernandez had originally expected of the Barcelona midfielder, the 20-year-old also states that he would like to work on increasing his overall goal contributions.
“Xavi asks a lot of me; I can improve in many aspects. Last year, I provided very few assists, and it’s something I have to work on. In general, I’m expected to contribute more in the attack. Also, more goals, which the coach tries to stimulate through challenges: “I didn’t meet the ten-goal challenge, so we have to set another one and achieve it.“
Acknowledging the youngster’s potential is just one part of him actually getting to fulfill it, but the aid from Barcelona and the player’s own determination to improve will both be key elements to helping him achieve said potential in the near future.
*Player’s value taken from Transfermarkt.