Barcelona are going to be cautious over the injury to midfielder Pedri, and they will not rush him back into action when he eventually returns.
The midfielder picked up an injury that looked set to keep him out for around two months, having missed a chunk of last season with a similar problem.
The 20-year-old played an extraordinary amount of football two seasons ago for club and country, and there were concerns that he could suffer from burnout.
A report from AS has now claimed that Pedri, who suffered from a muscle tear in his quadriceps, will not be rushed back to action over fears that he could re-injure himself again. He has suffered from the same injury before, and this injury has a high risk of relapse when healing.
The best-case scenario for the Spain international’s return now looks to be easing him in, with his first possible appearance on October 22nd against Athletic Bilbao.
Extra care over Pedri
Pedri playing so many games as a teenager was arguably irresponsible, and despite his vast talent, repeat injuries will only hinder his career in the future.
Xavi has Gavi and Joao Felix at his disposal to cover for Pedri whilst he is absent, and Barcelona can no longer return to a state where they are completely reliant on the midfielder to perform.
The prodigy who joined as a teenager from Las Palmas is one of the most gifted young talents in world football, and he has already made 111 appearances for the Barcelona senior side.
Barcelona need to manage the workloads for their talented young players like Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Gavi, and now that the midfield depth is more substantial, with Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan joining this summer, they will hope that Xavi has enough tools to responsibly rotate his younger stars.