Former Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has named a current Barcelona player as being the best in the world in his position, snubbing both Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. Kroos, who retired last year having won the Champions League with Los Blancos, spent the majority of his career in the Spanish capital, with a successful stint at Bayern Munich just prior to that.
Given his ties to Madrid, it is hard to imagine Kroos saying anything overly positive about his long-time rivals. However, the 35-year-old sang the praises of one star as he called him the most important piece of Hansi Flick's Camp Nou puzzle.
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Kroos Names Pedri as Best Midfielder in the World
The German had nothing but positives for the Barcelona star
Speaking on his podcast, as translated by ESPN, Kroos admitted that he believed Pedri was the best midfielder in the world and went on to rave about his importance to the eliminated Champions League semi-finalists. The 22-year-old, who was part of the Spain squad that won Euro 2024, has been ever-present this season, starting in 91% of his 33 La Liga appearances, and Kroos has explained why his role is more crucial to Flick than that of Raphinha or Yamal's:
"For me, a player like Pedri is more important than Lamine Yamal, Raphinha or Lewandowski. They may decide the results of matches, but to do that, Pedri is currently the best player in the world in his position. He's a player you will miss when he's not playing, whoever you are playing against. He doesn't just score goals or provide assists, he offers solutions.
"I have been watching what Pedri is doing this season. In the Champions League, he's better than his opponents in every game. In La Liga, it is only more extreme. If you lose a player like him, you will notice. He's the best. He's one of the few midfielders in his position that has the ability to beat dribble past players when there is no space."
Kroos would also go into detail about how difficult it was even for him to play against the Spaniard, admitting to struggling to contain him when they faced off against each other.
"I experienced it myself, once especially," the German continued. "He demolished us at home. Once or twice I thought I could get to him, because he doesn't look so quick, but he dribbles so well and I couldn't even stop him with a foul.
"He's not like Messi, whose speed of movement you see. Pedri doesn't seem so quick, but he really is."
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All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt - accurate as of 11/05/2025.