Xavi and Sergio Busquets hailed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the former Arsenal man netted a hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 hammering of Valencia.
The Gabon striker netted either side of Frenkie De Jong's tap-in to give Barca a 3-0 half-time lead, before completing his treble in bizarre circumstances on the hour-mark, after Carlos Soler had pulled one back for Valencia.
Barcelona's fourth goal of Sunday's LaLiga contest was originally credited to Pedri, but has since been awarded to the 32-year-old, who got the slightest of touches on the youngster's long-range effort.
It was the first time Aubameyang, who was making his first LaLiga start, has scored multiple goals in a league game since he helped himself to a hat-trick for Arsenal against Leeds United 12 months ago, and Xavi was thrilled with the forward's contribution.
"He has scored goals his entire career," he said.
"It was to be expected that he would score here soon too. He goes very well to [find] space, he is mature, he is very intelligent.
"I am delighted with him. These goals will be very good for him."
Aubameyang's opening goal made him just the fourth player to score in the Spanish, English, German, and French top flights this century, after Stevan Jovetic, Michy Batshuayi, and James Rodriguez, while the striker also became the first Gabonese player to net in LaLiga.
Barca captain Busquets was equally effusive in his praise for his new team-mate.
"He is working very well, he arrived with a lack of minutes, but he is getting them [now]. He is a great player and it is a luxury to have him in the squad, [especially] after arriving for free," Busquets said.
"Without Aubameyang's help, perhaps the goalkeeper would have been able to stop it [Barcelona's fourth goal]."
Although Pedri saw the final goal of the match taken away from him, the quality of his initial strike did not go unnoticed by Xavi, who said the midfielder is amongst the most talented players in world football.
"He is superlative," the Barca boss said. "At that level of talent, there is no other [player] in the world like Pedri, and he is only 19 years old.
"We ask him to shoot [more often]. We demand it, he has a good shot. He is very young and shy, but not everyone has the skills he has."
Barcelona moved into LaLiga's top four with the win, scoring four or more goals in a single away league game against Valencia for the first time since December 1993.
Mark Hateley: Rangers need two new strikers who can outscore James Tavernier
Former Rangers striker Mark Hateley believes his old club need to sign two forwards who can outscore James Tavernier or they will not stop Celtic dominating Scottish football.
Right-back Tavernier was the club’s top league goalscorer last term with 16 goals and his total in all competitions of 18 was the same as Antonio Colak.
Fashion Sakala and the now departed Alfredo Morelos both hit 12 while Celtic’s main striker Kyogo Furuhashi weighed in with 34 goals on the way to the club’s fifth treble in seven seasons.
Hateley said: “We need two strikers that can score more than a right-back to win anything. It’s as simple as that.
“We need strikers that can get more goals than the captain to have a chance of competing at the very top. And that doesn’t come cheap.
“I think you need to bring in three strikers that are all credible and can produce.”
Colak’s future looks unclear after he only scored four goals and struggled for fitness following Michael Beale’s arrival, while Sakala played in a central role at times and on the wing on other occasions.
On Sakala, Hateley said: “He’s a young lad so he will develop as time goes on but if you are working with top goalscorers, your game comes on a lot quicker. I think he would probably become more of a squad player.
“The key now is to get two strikers in the team. It’s now easier because Alfredo has left the club because it was always difficult to play another player with Alfredo. He was the lone wolf with players playing around him but Michael now has the ability to play with two strikers, different formations.”
Hateley does not necessarily believe Ange Postecoglou’s departure from Celtic Park to Tottenham is in itself an opportunity for Rangers.
“You could say so but the structure that Celtic have in place, I don’t think a lot will change,” he said.
“I don’t know if Ange can take players with him but what Ange has done has been absolutely phenomenal, and the way the board have trusted him in his methodology and his way of thinking has been commendable.
“Top coaches like a challenge and they like to challenge the best. Ange has produced that. It’s always great competition, if you have two great teams on the pitch who are competing to prove who has the edge, and it’s the same with managers. You need managers to push each other.”
Hateley was promoting the Glasgow European Capital of Sport 2023 Refugee Football Tournament, which will feature players from more than 50 nations at Toryglen Regional Football Centre on July 2.
The former England striker said: “Refugees are coming to all different parts of the world and trying to find homes and friendships and where better to come than Glasgow, Scotland? Always welcoming, hence why I am still here.
“Football is a medium where friendships are built so it’s an important factor. It’s a fantastic initiative.”
Dawson excited to see Messi head to MLS
Lionel Messi's impending transfer to Inter Miami will be a great tool to help MLS grow, says Michael Dawson.
Messi confirmed on Wednesday that he will join Miami after leaving Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent.
Barcelona wanted to re-sign the 35-year-old, but could not make the finances work, with Messi claiming he did not want a potential return to his old club to result in other players having to cut their salaries or be sold.
Now, a new venture in the United Stats awaits, and former Tottenham defender Dawson thinks it will be a huge positive for the growth of the sport in the United States.
Speaking to Stats Perform at an exclusive launch event for Club and Nike Members held at Alexandra Palace, Dawson said: "I always look back to the MLS when David Beckham went [in 2007 to LA Galaxy] and I always believe he was the start of the MLS improving and growing.
"You look at Cristiano Ronaldo going to Saudi [Arabia] and playing over there, it gives people a different interest.
"Messi [and Ronaldo], they are icons of football, the best players of my generation. So if you attract that to your country, to your league, it's only going to bring people watching it.
"I say the Premier League is the best league in the world. I've never played in a different country. Maybe that's something I would have maybe liked if the opportunity to come along.
"But with these kinds of players going over there, it will always attract interest from the supporters because as a fan, you follow Messi, you follow Ronaldo, and that's why the owners of these football clubs spend all the money to go and get them because they try and enhance their brand, their football team and their league."
Mark Wilson: Celtic should get Brendan Rodgers back ‘in a heartbeat’ if they can
Celtic should bring Brendan Rodgers back “in a heartbeat” if their old manager is keen on a return to Glasgow, according to former Hoops full-back Mark Wilson.
Rodgers is favourite to replace Ange Postecoglou as Celtic boss following the Greek-born Australian’s departure to Tottenham.
The former Liverpool manager has previously stated he would be open to a return to Celtic Park if the timing was right, but accepted he might not be welcomed by fans who were hurt by the manner of his sudden exit to Leicester in February 2019 after winning seven domestic trophies out of seven.
There are reports that Rodgers would prefer a longer break after losing his job as Foxes manager in early April but talk of a return is lingering.
“If Celtic have got the option to bring him back, I would in a heartbeat, I really would,” Wilson said.
“Brendan Rodgers is a top-tier manager, his history shows that. You don’t get the Liverpool job if you’re not a top-tier manager, you don’t get the success in Glasgow he had if you’re not a top-class manager.
“He had a style of football here that the supporters and players bought into, possession-based. It was terrific to watch and it yielded trophies, year after year.
“Of course the baggage he has with some Celtic fans, the way he left, would be hard to dissolve. But football is a results-driven business and if he came back and started well, and there were a few good signings in the door, I think a lot of that bad feeling would quickly evaporate.”
Postecoglou’s departure days after clinching the treble has impacted some Celtic fans in similar fashion.
“It’s where are in the world of football,” Wilson said. “We are here in the Scottish Premiership, which is a fantastic league, entertaining, we all love it.
“But when you are just across the border from the richest league in the world, really anybody that is successful here is going to go to England.
“I know we hate saying it but the resources and the lure of the English Premier League is too much for our players, managers and chairmen who get offers for players. Managers are no different.
“When their stock is as high as Ange Postecoglou’s, and you get offered a job like Spurs, how can you blame anyone for going south of the border?”
Wilson was promoting the Glasgow European Capital of Sport 2023 Refugee Football Tournament, which will feature players from more than 50 nations at Toryglen Regional Football Centre on July 2.
“It’s an outstanding initiative, it gives everybody the opportunity to play, particularly in Glasgow where we are so diverse,” he said.
“And the football pitch brings everybody together, it doesn’t matter their race, religion, background, ethnicity, to have this tournament to bring all parties together, is going to be a fantastic occasion.
“I do a lot of work in Glasgow myself with charities and we have a lot of participants who are refugees, young refugees, and they can get signposted to the next level.”
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