Pedro Rodríguez Iglesias (born 20 January 2008) is a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who currently plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Club career

Born in

Ogíjares Ogíjares is a municipality located in the central-southern part of the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2005 census ( INE), the city had a population of 11,877 inhabitants. Geography Ogíjares is located in the center of a fertile p ...

in Spain's

Province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropi ...

, Rodríguez began his career with local club Ogíjares 89 before joining the academy of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. In 2019, at the age of eleven, he moved to

's ''

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; ), is FC Barcelona's youth academy. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and ...

'' academy. Having struggled initially to settle, the suspension of football due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Spain The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Island ...

meant that he returned to play in the club's under-14 side under coach Albert Puig, where he showed rapid improvement. He signed a new contract with the club on 4 June 2024, reportedly rejecting offers from other European clubs in the process. In August 2024, following impressive performances for the ''Cadet'' and ''Juvenil B'' sides of Barcelona's academy, he was promoted to the Barcelona Atlètic squad—a path also taken by fellow youth player

Marc Bernal Marc Bernal Casas (born 26 May 2007) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for FC Barcelona. Club career Born in Berga, Barcelona, Catalonia, Bernal is a youth product of CE Berga and Gimnàstic Manresa, and ...

. He made his debut for the club's B team in the same month, starting in Barcelona's 2–1

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

loss to

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. Rodríguez' goal in the third minute of the semi-final of the

Copa del Rey Juvenil de Fútbol Copa del Rey Juvenil de Fútbol is an annual youth football tournament in Spain, which is contested by 32 teams from the División de Honor Juvenil. It is organised by the RFEF. History The Copa del Rey Juvenil de Fútbol was founded in 1951 wi ...

against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in March 2025 helped Barcelona to a 2–0 win. The following month he helped the club's under-19 side to the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

title, beating Turkish opposition

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

4–1 in the final on 28 April 2025.

Style of play

A midfielder, Rodríguez is capable of playing in both offensive and defensive roles. Spanish newspaper ''

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

s journalist Jaume Marcet described Rodríguez as a player who "controls the ball like few others, moves it quickly and judiciously", comparing him to former and current Barcelona players

Xavi Xavi () is a Catalan given name, usually used as a nickname for Xavier. Notable people with the name include: Football * Xavi Hernández (born 1980), Spanish football manager and former player * Xavi Andorrà (born 1985), Andorran footballe ...

and

Pedri Pedro González López (born 25 November 2002), more commonly known as Pedri, is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona and the Spain national football team, Spa ...

, respectively.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez, Pedro 2008 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Primera Federación players Granada CF footballers FC Barcelona players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen