Central midfielder Pedro Obiang has been at the heart of Sampdoria's first season back in the Serie A after their relegation. His consistent solid performances in the centre of midfield for the Genoa based club have allowed the more creative players around him the freedom to work their magic, players like more attacking minded central midfielder Andrea Poli and striker Mauro Icardi have flourished thanks to his solid performances.
But who is this Pedro Obiang exactly? Well, in case you didn't know, Pedro Obiang is a 21 year old Spanish (Of Equatorial Guinean descent) central midfielder who originally played for Atletico Madrid's youth set-up before moving to Italian side Sampdoria at the young age of 16. Since then Pedro has impressed in youth and reserve games and muscled his way into the first team, but failed to regularly start for the club, that season ended in shock and agony for Sampdoria as they were relegated to Serie B, but the move down in division has really helped young Pedro establish himself in the starting XI, during the club's successful promotion campaign which ended in the side's promotion back to the Serie
A via the play-offs, he played in a defensive role in midfield which saw him consistently put in some fantastic performances, he returned to the Serie A as a real professional of Italian football despite his tender age.
His game plan is based around his ability to break up opposition attacks but he also uses his physical prowess to burst forward and support Sampdoria's strike force. For a man of his age, Pedro is a sure passer of the ball and one who possesses quite a good first touch for someone of his stature.
His game plan and his physical presence are the reasons why Manchester City should sign him. This season has seen City mix and match in midfield with an ageing Gareth Barry, a highly talented but highly injury prone Jack Rodwell, an unsure Javi Garcia and the magnificent Yaya Toure all figuring this season but City are still without a real defensive minded cruncher of a central midfielder to partner Yaya Toure, whose game has evolved to be more attacking, I personally think that Pedro Obiang would be the perfect partner for Yaya Toure in central midfield.
Initially he would be played as just that, a defensive minded midfielder but over the course of time, when Yaya simply cannot keep up with his level of physicality, he would be used in a more attacking role, one not too dissimilar to that of Yaya Toure currently, Pedro's physical presence and stamina would make him virtually unplayable for ninety minutes in a more attacking role which allows him to burst forward on Yaya Toure-esque runs. But Sampdoria aren't likely to want to sell one of their best players easily and any player of Pedro's ability and potential is likely to command a large transfer fee but it won't be one that Manchester City cannot afford, signing a player like Pedro would mean signing a great player for now and a world class one for the future.
If Manchester City don't sign Pedro it will only be a matter of time before this highly talented young man muscles his way into one of the top teams in Europe.
Source: DSG
