Spain star criticises Barcelona over Pedri injury record | OneFootball

Aston Villa defender and Spain international Pau Torres has accused Barcelona of overworking Pedri and causing the midfielder's lengthy injury battle.

Pedri joined Barcelona in the summer of 2020 and went on to play 73 games for both club and country in his first season, starting 54 of those matches and racking up just shy of 5,000 minutes across all competitions.

Since then, the young midfielder has struggled with injuries. Having played 52 times for Barcelona in 2020/21, Pedri managed just 57 appearances across the two seasons that followed and, after two starts this year, has spent the past three months on the sidelines with another hamstring injury.

The workload of Pedri's debut campaign has regularly been blamed for his ongoing battle with fitness problems, and teammate Torres has openly called out Barcelona for their management of the midfielder.

"If Barca had decided to give him his rest time, I think that Pedri, today, would be better physically, because he has been suffering from injuries since that moment," Torres told Relevo.

"I think that he is not enjoying football, and neither is Spanish football, because it is a different player that Spain and La Liga need."

Torres played alongside Pedri at the Olympics in the summer of 2021, which was held between the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns.

The Villa defender continued: "Pedri returned [from the Olympic Games] and started the season. He simply stopped for a week, during the first national team break, it seems to me.

"I think that, unfortunately, he didn't finished recovering from that moment and it is something that he carries with him."

Pedri is back in training with Barcelona but was not rushed back for the Clasico defeat to Real Madrid, with manager Xavi reluctant to rush the midfielder back into action.